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> 

THE VOTER’S X-RAYS 



CLARENCE T. ATKINSON 

\\ 

OF THE NEW JERSEY BAR 





CHICAGO: 

THE SCHULTE PUBLISHING COMPANY. 


Copyright, 1897, 

BY , 

CLARENCE T. ATKINSON. 


n !r/,/c 




PREFACE. 

“ We are ostracised because our political creed is in 
advance and our morality higher than that‘of the people 
for whom we have given incessant labors/’— JohnBright. 

By the publication of the following lectures, the 
author does not seek the literary fame of a professional 
writer, nor the reputation for the framing of mystic 
sentences which belongs to the college professor or 
theoretical writer. His effort- has been to present 
truths in a plain American manner, and thereby to 
enlarge the circle of knowledge concerning our govern¬ 
ment as divorced from partisan sentiment. The law¬ 
yer, the professor and the literary worker have the 
means at hand to acquire a complete knowledge of the 
subjects discussed in these lectures. But the man 
who carries the dinner-pail, the farmer, the laborer and 
the mechanic have not at hand the means of acquiring 
a knowledge of the fundamental principles of our 
government. If the editors have such knowledge, the 
great majority of them hide their light under a subsidy 
or behind a party cloud. 

Let us dare to believe that a study of these lectures 
will equip the voter for an intelligent discharge of his 
duty at the ballot-box. Let us believe, if the reader 
will pardon this faith, that a close study of the princi¬ 
ples collected in these lectures will make the business of 
the demagogue dangerous to the demagogue. Let us 
hate poverty as deeply as we hate the injustice of 
excessive wealth. Let us believe that the battle 
between the classes and the masses will end when the 

3 


4 


PREFACE. 


latter understand and vote for principles. Let us 
repudiate the new doctrine that the people are not com¬ 
petent to understand the questions arising in govern¬ 
mental affairs, but, on the contrary, let us believe the 
people are competent to understand every such question, 
if they have the means to this end. To give them the 
means is the design of these lectures. 

Reforms must come ; abuses must cease ; the power 
of the classes must be curbed ; the people must be 
masters of the classes ; trusts and monopolies must 
disappear; the rights of labor and capital must be 
balanced and adjusted to each other ; the palace must 
not be allowed to shadow the thousand hovels ; the 
home must be preserved; the ballot must be free, and 
the vote unpurchased. 

Let this be our political creed, and let us love such a 
creed as affectionately as the monopolistic leech loves 
his millions, every dollar of which is stained with an 
orphan’s tear, a widow’s wail, or blackened by the 
curses of the “tramps.” 

It is my fervent wish that this creed may become the 
creed of the people, It may be the suggestions of these 
lectures shall invite a profounder writer to produce 
a more comprehensive work for the people of our 
beloved countr}^ C. T. A. 

Camden, N. J ., Jan. 12, i 8 gy. 


THE VOTER’S X-RAYS. 

$ 

I. INTRODUCTORY. 

‘‘Personal success in politics cannot afford to reject 
the use which may be made of the ignorance and preju¬ 
dice among the people .”—John Bright. 

W HEN Caesar was plotting against the Republic of 
Rome, he could not keep Cicero quiet. Cicero, 
the patriot, who was the first to be designated as 
“Father of his Country,” pleaded with the Romans to 
save the republic, to perpetuate the constitution. But 
the Romans had been corrupted. The masses were in 
abject poverty. A few rich persons absorbed the 
increase of Roman labor and industry. The system of 
plundering the masses was continued by bribery at elec¬ 
tions. Pompey was unable to maintain order. The 
elections were scandalously corrupt, and year after 
year no consuls could be elected on account of turbu¬ 
lence. “ In the year 54 before Christ, the rate of 
interest rose from four to eight per cent, owing to the 
demand for ready money to be spent in bribery ; one 
hundred thousand pounds was promised for the vote of 
the first cer*' v. Scaurus, who came late into the field, 
is reports, have satisfied electors, tribe by tribe, at 
his house.” In the year 53 before Christ, Scipio 
Metellus ran against Milo for the Praetorship. Bribery 
and intimidation were carried on to a reckless extent on 
both sides. Milo and Claudius roamed the streets, each 

5 


6 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


with an armed gang. No election could be held. There 
was but one way to keep Cicero quiet—kill him. This 
was done. An empire was erected upon the ruins of 
the republic. 

Now, if Rome could not maintain a republic against 
the assaults of classes, with their weapons of bribery 
and intimidation, how can the United States hope to do 
so? Our politics are rapidly becoming a business and 
mercenary affair. Wealth, always selfish and blind to 
the interests of others, demands legislation for capital. 
No one is better prepared to speak in this line from 
experience than is Senator Quay. He is credited with 
saying to Senator Flinn that his campaign for chairman¬ 
ship of the Republican State Committee of Pennsyl¬ 
vania cost him ^200,000. Senator Quay deserves credit 
for his frankness. The celebrated reply to the Dolan 
interview is as follows : 

“My views upon the connection between business 
and politics were mentioned in a speech at a Republi¬ 
can meeting in Pittsburgh a few days previous to the 
presidential election. I am opposed to the entire 
• ifcheme of the National Business Men’s League as dis¬ 
closed by Mr. Dolan. Its basic theory is that organized 
wealth shall dictate high office, and so take possession 
of the government. It will be met as stubbornly and 
overthrown as disastrously as was Bryanism. 

“Bryan invoked the masses against the classes. The 
promoters of this league invoke a class against the 
masses and all other classes. No league of business 
men, or other men, based upon wealth or other founda¬ 
tion, can erect a government class in this country. In 
the United States Senate we have millionaires and 
business men enough to serve all legitimate purposes. 
Senators are needed who have no special ties, but who 
will act for the interests of the country in gross, with¬ 
out special affinities. 

“The people most deserving of representation, and 


THE VOTER'S X’RAYS. 


7 


most in need of legislative protection, are the farmers, 
the small storekeepers, the artisans, the laborers, and I 
stand by them, and against this so-called league. 

‘‘I go into the barricades with the bourgeoisie and the 
men in business. In conclusion, I do not believe that 
ten per cent, of the business men of the country sympa¬ 
thize with this league. There must be less business 
and more principle in our politics, else the Republican 
party and the country will go to wreck. 

“The business issues are making our politics sordid 
and corrupt. The tremendous sums of money furnished 
by business men—reluctantly in most instances—are 
polluting the well-springs of our national being.” 

As Senator Quay, in 1888, had the distribution of the 
Wanamaker ^400,000 campaign fund, he knows where¬ 
of he speaks. If this republic is to be saved, it must 
be done through principles applied, and not hy principal 
utilized in politics and legislation. A business man in 
politics is all right if he can lose sight of his special 
interests—if he can learn principles^ and put them in 
place of principal. “You can reason logically with a 
business man, but never so conclusively as through his 
pocket.” A statesman knows of certain principles 
worthy to* be enacted into laws; the business man 
hatches certain schemes, which he seeks to ripen by 
laws. Naturally the statesman is for all the people ; 
the business man for his class of the people. The 
business man is apt to become a politician, not a states¬ 
man. The praetorian guards of monopoly in Congress 
are the business men, or their paid retainers, who are 
in Congress to attend to their own business. They are 
not statesmen. The statesman is unselfish ; the dollar 
man cannot be unselfish. The presence of principal 
and the absence of principle in our legislation has pro¬ 
duced a condition which startles and appalls the 
patriots of America—3,523,730 persons unemployed 


8 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS, 


during the year 1890. The following excerpt is from 
the Baltimore Herald: 

“It is not an exaggeration to say that from this class 
of unemployed that of pauperism and criminality is 
recruited. The man without work must live upon his 
accumulated savings, must starve, must steal, or must 
depend upon others. The alternative is a terrible one, 
and is usually solved by the unfortunate becoming a " 
persistent pauper or criminal.” 

The Evening Journal of St. Louis says : 

“Idleness breeds discontent, and discontent breeds 
violent remonstrance. It is not the fault of the unem¬ 
ployed that they are not at work ; it is not the fault of 
their starving families at home ; but it is the fault of 
representatives in Congress who cater to nothing except 
the wishes of corporations and combines. It is the 
fault of the President who frowns upon everything 
calculated to uplift common humanity, and who be¬ 
comes an obedient servant to the venal vampires who 
prowl around the White House seeking what they may 
devour. One thing may be depended upon : there can 
possibly be no reduction of the misery and poverty now 
so prevalent so long as laws exist that enable corpora¬ 
tions and combinations of capital to conspire for the 
exploitation of the masses. There can be no million¬ 
aires without their corresponding thousands of paupers. 
When one man becomes fabulously rich, ten thousand 
must succumb to the ravages of poverty, while no less 
than half that number become paupers, from which 
number originates the army of tramps.” 

Henry Labouchere, the well-known English radical, 
and editor of London Truth, remarks : 

“Trusts, monopolies and gambling in railroad stocks 
have produced a greedy plutocracy which cannot main¬ 
tain itself long unless it is backed by a large armed 
force. America’s worst product is her dollarocracy. 

* * * They will sell their souls to any one who 

brings them into contact with princes, and their daugh- 



THE VO TEE'S XH^AVS. 


9 


ters to any one willing to give them a title. The 
American dollarocracy despise their own country and its 
institutions, but they fancy their money makes them 
superior to every one else. Unless the United States is 
to become a country ruled purely by its plutocratic 
oligarchy, these worthies must be reduced.” 

This is as others see us. 

The plutocratic classes are always asking the legis¬ 
latures and Congress for special legislation and privi¬ 
leges, exemptions and protections for the benefit of 
others. These classes always desire such legislation 
not for their own benefit, but for the masses. One of 
the lords in Parliament, in answer to a demand for an 
exemption, used the following fable : 

Once on a time the birds were gathered together, 
and amongst them was the owl, bare of pi linage. 
Making hinrself out to be half dead and frozen, he 
shiveringly begged feathers from the other birds, and 
they, moved to pity, gave him feathers all round, until 
he had been decked in some ugly guise with the plumes 
of his fellow bipeds. Then a hawk appeared, and a 
panic amongst the birds followed. They all demanded 
their feathers again. He refused to give them up. 
Then each bird took back his own feathers by force, 
and they escaped the danger, while the owl was more 
wretchedly callow than before.” 

The American owls some day will get too many 
feathers, and force will be used to get them back ; but 
the fault will be on the owl. In the New York Mercury 
of 1764, this truth was penned ; 

History does not furnish an instance of a revolt 
begun by the people which did not take its rise from 
oppression.” 

Our revolt must be at the ballot-box. Education for 
this revolt ought to be ceaseless until we reform the 
abuses of government, in spite of “ the lawyers and the 


lO 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS, 


men of wealth,” and notwithstanding the harvesting 
classes'of wealth cry out that we design ‘^anarchy.” 
Cromwell advised the Long Parliament “to reform 
abuses, and not to multiply poor men for the benefit of 
the rich.” 

I would not have the poor unjust to the rich, nor the 
rich unjust to the poor; labor should not be an enemy 
to capital, nor capital the oppressor of labor. It is no 
crime to walk in the golden radiance of wealth honestly 
acquired; but wealth accumulated by special privilege 
and legislation in favor of classes is criminal. The 
getters of such criminal wealth resort to any means for 
its acquisition. They corrupt the electors, rule the 
people, and, if unchecked, will destroy the republic. 
Let every American write upon the table of his heart 
the following words of the immortal Lincoln: 

“Yes, we may all congratulate ourselves that this 
cruel war is nearly over. It has cost a vast amount of 
treasure and blood. It has indeed been a trying hour 
for the republic, but I see in the near future a crisis 
approaching that unnerves me, and causes me to trem¬ 
ble for the safety of the country. As a result of the 
war corporations have been enthroned, and an era of 
corruption in high places will follow, and the money 
power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign 
by working upon the prejudices of the people until all 
wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the republic 
is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for 
the safety of the country than ever before, even in the 
midst of war.” 

If you study the debates of the patriots in the conven¬ 
tion which framed our Constitution you will learn that 
the prospect of a few men becoming dangerously rich 
afforded those government-builders much anxiety. They 
had before them the example of other ruined republics 
caused by the selfishness and corruption of riches. 


THE FOTEE’S X-RAYS. 


li 

How could they provide against a like cause producing 
a like effect? On July 19, 1787, Mr. Gouverneur 
Morris, in one of the debates of the Constitutional 
Convention, said : 

“It is necessary, then, that the executive magistrate 
should be the guardian of the people, even of the 
lower classes, against legislative tyranny, against the 
great and wealthy, who in the course of things will 
necessarily compose the legislative body. Wealth 
tends to corrupt the mind, to nourish its love of power, 
and to stimulate it to oppression. History proves tl)is 
to be the spirit of the opulent.” 

Had Mr. Morris known then of the vast combinations 
of wealth to be made, he would have abandoned the 
idea of a republic. Our Constitution is entirely silent 
upon trusts and combines ; monopolies were unlawful 
at common law. The framers of the Constitution, in 
framing such ins^-rument, regarded the common law. 
Corporations are not necessarily monopolies. Corpora¬ 
tions began with the civil law in Rome, have continued 
to be formed, and will continue, and ought to continue. 
They are great mediums for good or evil. Being crea¬ 
tures of law, the law must control and regulate them for 
general good and public welfare. The limit of capital 
should be prescribed, and combinations prohibited, and 
such prohibition rigidly and sacredly enforced. 

It is not corporations, rich individuals or wealth that 
threaten the destruction of our republic ; it is the 
failure of the government to control and regulate these 
forces. The weakness of the individual in the presence 
of great wealth and its power is communicated to the 
government; and hence wealth rules because feeble 
men are selected to make and execute our laws. Right 
here very many fail to distinguish between the fault of 
those selected to govern and the government. The 


12 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


objection is to the persons who control the government, 
and not to the government itself. The clamor for 
change of the form or structure of the government 
comes chiefly from those who do not distinguish be' 
tween the form of government and those who execute 
it. Our government is all right. 

“When the form of government becomes destructive 
of the rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, it 
is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to 
institute a new government, laying its foundations on 
such principles as to them shall seem most likely to 
effect their safety and happiness. * * * But when 

a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invari¬ 
ably the same object, evinces a design to reduce the 
government under absolute despotism, it is their right, 
it is their duty, to throw off such government and pro¬ 
vide new guards for future securit} . ” 

The form of government of the United States is the 
best the world has ever known. It is used, however, by 
selfish and unpatriotic lawmakers and executives for 
the advancement of special interests. What the framers 
of the Constitution feared would come to pass, has 
come to pass. The fault is in putting weak and toolish 
men into office. These men have not the strength to 
enforce the principles of right. They are only strong 
when serving the interests of their masters. 

Political parties make platforms professing to espouse 
certain principles of good rule, but the special and 
selfish interests prevent the platform from being 
enforced. We change the names of the rulers and law¬ 
makers, but not their masters. The masters of our 
rulers and lawmakers have not been changed in the 
past thirty-six years. The money power and monopo¬ 
listic masters have been fooling the people of the 
United States during the past thirty-six years by cries 
of protection to American labor, specie resumption, 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


13 


civil service reform, sectionalism, force-bills, honest 
elections, honest dollars and preservation of the nation’s 
integrity. Most of these are desirable ; but those who 
make the loudest outcry on behalf of them are like 
those who pray in public places. The preyers are our 
masters, and have been preying on our industry, while 
they conceal their h37pocrisy under the cry for the above 
named reforms-and principles. They pollute the tem¬ 
ple of government. 

On the other hand, those who do not realize the 
importance of real reforms by strong-minded patriots 
and statesmen who have no masters, grow impatient 
and become advocates of visionary schemes which 
border upon anarchy. Without affirming or denying 
the principles of ultra reformers who would abolish the 
right of private property, I submit, such a reform means 
abolition of one of the chief corner-stones of govern¬ 
ment, and takes away the incentive to individual effort 
and progress. The right of private property is as 
sacred as is the right of personal liberty. Government 
should regulate them, not abolish them. If it is not 
for the general welfare that an individual possesses ten 
millions of dollars, then the government has the power 
to say so, and limit the individual wealth. When a 
person reaches such limit, then he or she can cease 
work, or accumulate for the benefit of state or nation. 
If you affirm that this is confiscation, I reply, it is within 
the power of government to confiscate private greed for 
public good. The correct statement is that govern¬ 
ment has the right to destroy the means of, and incen¬ 
tive to, getting dishonest wealth. If private individuals 
make warfare on society", the latter has the right to 
resist such warfare, and to confiscate the means of such 
warfare. If two or more persons conspire to injure 


H 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


society, it is a crime; if one person uses the same 
means the two or more conspirators would use for the 
accomplishment of the same ends, is it any less 
criminal? The law forbids one to maintain a nuisance, 
but allows one to hold so much wealth that such holder 
is dangerous to society. Concentration and dangerous 
accumulation of wealth can be prevented by limitation 
of wealth. 

I have no disposition to invoke retribution upon the 
extremely wealthy monopolists; but this proposition 
can be set down as undeniably true —that the millionaire 
monopolist is always a large investor in legislation. The 
right of private property is not inconsistent with the 
philosopher’s right to the use of the earth. Property 
in land means the right of the holder thereof to enjoy 
the fruits of his own labor. The right of society to 
resume possession for public good includes the right of 
society to limit the quantity of possession for such 
public good. The failure of our government to make 
these limitations is wrong. The way to right this 
wrong is to pass a law fixing a just limit, not to strike at 
the foundations of society and government by attempt¬ 
ing to abolish the right of private property. The sen¬ 
timent of the great Burke is in point : 

Government is a practical thing, made for the hap¬ 
piness of mankind, and not to furnish a spectacle of 
uniformity to gratify schemes of visionary politicians. 
The business of those called to administer the govern¬ 
ment is to rule, not to wrangle.” 

Dr. Story says of the framers of the Constitution of 
the United States that they “knew the besetting sin of 
republics is a restlessness of temperament, and a spirit 
of discontent at slight evils.” 

I now want to present to my readers the most 


THE FOTEE’S X-EAVS. 


15 

eloquent paragraph that ever human pen put on paper. 
It is from the same Dr. Story : 

‘‘If these commentaries shall but inspire the rising 
generation with a more ardent love of their country, an 
unquenchable thirst for liberty, and a profound rev¬ 
erence for the Constitution and the Union, then they 
will have accomplished all that their author ought to 
desire. Let the American youth never forget that they 
possess a noble inheritance bought by the toils and 
sufferings and blood of their ancestors; and capable, if 
wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of trans¬ 
mitting to their latest posterity all the substantial 
blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, 
property, religion, and independence. The structure 
has been erected by architects of consummate, skill and 
fidelity—its foundations are solid; its compartments are 
beautiful, as well as-useful; its arrangements are full of 
wisdom and order ; and its defenses are impregnable 
from without. It has been reared for immortality, if 
the work of man may justly aspire to such a title. It 
may, nevertheless, perish in an hour by the folly, or 
corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, the 
people. Republics are created by the virtue, public 
spirit and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when 
the wise are banished from public councils because they 
dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded 
because they flatter the people in order to betray them.” 

II. THERE SHOULD BE NO PRIVATE PROFIT 
FROM PUBLIC NECESSITIES. 

T O say a wrong is committed by authority of law 
sounds like a contradiction of terms. A fact must 
have a name in order to note it from one mind to 
another. It is a fact that the farmer, producer and 
laborer do not take a just share of the fruits of their labor. 


i6 


THE VOTER'S X.RAYS. 


By just laws, and the use of God-giveii faculties, each 
would take a just share. For the products of my hands 
or brains I would get an equal amount of products from 
the hands or brains of you. By statutes which interfere 
with, and operate against, the just law, I am enabled 
to take more of the fruits of your labor with your hands 
or brains than you can get from me. These statutes 
impose unequal burdens, and confer unequal privileges. 
T-he result is, one gets more than he should get, and 
that by means of a filching system, colorably legal, but 
in truth wrong. It is the taking of another’s property 
without just reward, and the felonious intent wrapped 
up in a so-called law. 

The law used to read : ‘‘Thou shalt not steal.” It 
now reads : “Thou shalt not steal except by color of 
law.” Stealing without color of law sends the thief to 
the prison; stealing by color of law gives the thief a 
palace. 

The chief aim of a government ought to be justice. 
Justice renders unto every one his due, and permits no 
one to take more than his due. A government under 
which one can take or exact more than his due is a 
failure. A government under which one can steal, and 
then hide behind a supposed law, or system of law, is 
an engine of injustice. 

The government of the United States of America was 
formed to establish justice and to provide for the 
general welfare. It is just beginning to dawn upon 
thoughtful Americans that our government is not doing 
justice nor promoting the general welfare. It is true, if 
facts are evidence of truth, that justice is not triumph¬ 
ant, and the particular welfare of classes is supplanting 
the general welfare of the masses. The instrument of 
the mischief is called law. I name it perversion of law. 


THE VO TEE'S X-EAVS. 


17 


The evidence of the perversion will be found upon our 
State and national statute books, and in the opinions of 
learned judges. 

The people are the sovereign power. You exercise 
your sovereign ^ower—the law-making power—through 
representatives, legislators and Congressmen, together 
with a chief executive, the Governor of a State, or the 
President of the United States. They all have masters. 
These masters are not the people, but a few of the 
people, who delegate to themselves, first, to look after 
their own interests, and after their own interests are 
well and securely protected, then they look after the 
interests of all the people. The trouble is that the few, 
naturally, leave little for the many. It is during 
political campaigns that the interests of all the people 
are taken care of by the few; after the campaign is over 
the few take their pay for the arduous work and expense 
of having cared for the interests of the masses. 

Special interests have at the halls of legislation 
special agents, to get for themselves special privileges 
and advantages. Four-fifths of our legislators are 
unable to form a correct opinion, or if they do form a 
correct opinion, they have not the moral courage to 
vote it or express it. The special agent for the special 
interest makes, in various ways, the opinion for our 
salary-drawing legislators, and they vote according to 
orders. One of the chief reasons why I am a believer 
in woman suffrage is this : If women had the right to 
vote, as they instinctively hate men who are moral 
cowards, in order to get the female vote a man would 
have to be a pretty decent sort of a fellow. In his letter 
to Baron Montesquieu, Helvetius said: “ I know of only 
two kinds of governments, the good and the bad ; the 
good, which are yet to be formed ; and the bad, the 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


l8 

grand secret of which is to draw, a variety of means, 
the money of the government into the pockets of the 
rulers.” 

I attack monopolies as the foremost of all the thieves 
of human rights. Soulless, heartless, and devoid of 
individual responsibility, there is no wrong to humanity 
monopoly will not inflict, if to its interest so to do. 

Monopoly is the Pontius Pilate of libert}'-, equality 
and humanity. The teachings of Christ are daily cru¬ 
cified by monopoly. Monopolists sing and pray on 
Sunday ; the rest of the week they contrive hell for their 
fellow-men. Were Christ on earth right now, what do 
you think would be his opinion of Christian monopo¬ 
lists? Do 3^ou think the language he applied to the 
hypocrites of his day strong enough for the monopolistic 
leeches of our day? The largest portion of the fruit of 
monopoly is stolen property. The theft is committed 
by destroying the rights and opportunities of neighbors. 
It is legalized pestilence, spreading paralysis and death 
to individual energy. 

Under the reign of monopoly the man disappears, 
and in his place you have a heartless machine of men. 
We often strike down political machines, but we have 
as yet been unable to strike down the monopolistic 
machine. No honest, Christian, neighbor-loving man 
can, in justice to his soul, afford to filch by dividends 
any more than he can rightly steal with his hands. 

Men join with others in doing wrongs at which they 
would recoil and shudder if asked to do the same wrong 
themselves. In the first case, they see and feel no 
personal responsibility ; in the second, their cowardice 
or conscience directs their conduct. 

There exist two classes of monopolies: i. Natural 
monopolies, or the ownership and control of light, 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


19 


water and highways by private corporations for gain. 
2. Trusts, or associations of individuals or corporations 
in one body for more compact and effective work to its 
own ends. 

It ought to startle every individual when it dawns 
upon him that the public light, which everybody should 
have, and the water, which is an indispensable neces¬ 
sity of nature, are furnished him by private corpora¬ 
tions. These private corporations squeeze out of the 
individual every cent that can by any pretense be had. 

Private greed supplants public good. One of the 
functions of municipal government is sold to private 
persons or corporations in order that the municipality 
and its inhabitants may be plundered. It would be just 
as logical and compatible to sell the police protection, 
or place its supply in the hands of private corporations. 
There would be just the same sense in the fire depart¬ 
ment being owned and controlled by private corpora¬ 
tions. I served once upon a committee to investigate 
the cost and revenues of a municipal lighting plant. 
The investigation demonstrated that immense sums are 
taken out of the pockets of the people by private cor¬ 
porations and individuals on false statements as to 
cost, expenses and interest on capital of their private 
lighting plants. It is the same with water-supply 
plants. Very many municipal governments do own 
their water-works; some the lighting plants and sewer¬ 
age system; but in our country the ownership of public 
conveyances is generally in private hands. What 
Glasgow has done by owning its tramways, every city in 
this country can do by owning the street railways. 

When you want to get from one point of a city to 
another point in that city, the municipality should 
furnish you the means, just as it furnishes you police 


20 


THE VO TEE’S X’EAVS. 


protection or light. The burden of this duty ought to 
be just what is necessary to pay for and maintain such 
service. Out of a demand for a common and public 
necessity no private leech ought to be allowed to specu¬ 
late, and take private profit for private greed. The 
toll-gate is being taken down everywhere. The high¬ 
ways should be free, or taxed only by the public to the 
extent that the public service demands. If one wants to 
drive over a public road, he takes his conveyance and 
does so. Now, add the co-relative idea, if one has no 
conveyance, and, in common with the greater number, 
is unable to own one, why not the public furnish it, and 
for common good take what pay is necessary to main¬ 
tain it? 

What is true of the highways of the city, is also true 
of the highways of the country. The railways have 
become public burdens as well as public conveniences. 
The sums of money taken from the people to pay high 
salaries, dividends on watered stock, and excessive 
rates, are appalling robberies. Railroads scarcely ever 
pay until they have been through the hands of a 
receiver and the small stockholder plundered of his 
stock. Private ownership of railroads is a stake for 
which speculators and gamblers continually play. 
They are operated on the principle of* the biggest 
returns for the least service, and these returns made to 
pockets of the fewest persons. 

What is true of railroads is true of the telegraph and 
telephone system. If you want to send a message by 
letter from Camden to New York or San Francisco, 
the government performs this service at a fixed charge. 
You participate in fixing that charge. The service 
is performed with great diligence and safety. If you 
desire a speedier communication you resort to the tele- 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


21 


phone or telegraph. You pay a price fixed by private 
greed, with no reference to any other element. Now, 
tell me why the government transmits the letter message 
and not the message by telephone or telegraph. 
Simply because people have never been aroused to a 
sense of the plunder private greed takes, by means of 
private monopoly, out of man’s natural necessities and 
society’s requirements. 

Do you say private capital has constructed and 
developed these great railway and telegraph and tele¬ 
phone systems? I admit it. But what right does this 
give them superior to public right? Stop and think. 
The ownership of every piece of property in the United 
States is conditional. You have a deed for a house and 
lot or a farm. You say, ‘‘It is mine.” Well, for how 
long? On what condition? Why, just so long as the 
public does not want to use your house and lot or farm. 
The public—the government for public use—has the 
legal and constitutional right to take from any person 
such property as it may need for public use, upon 
making just compensation. If it is right that your 
home can be taken from you by a railroad company for 
public use, for private gain, why can you say it is 
wrong to take for just compensation private propert}^ 
for public use, for public >j^ain? 

Would it pay the public? It pays private capital, 
and it pays large salaries. The telephone, telegraph 
and railroads, amid speculations and gambling, build 
up tlie largest fortunes, and create the millions in 
private hands which are used for public corruption and 
more extensive plunder of the masses. 

If our government owned and operated the telephone, 
the telegraph and the railway systems of the United 
States, the people would be rid of tariff tax, and per- 


22 


THE VO TEE'S X-EAYS. 


liaps every other form of tax. The cost of service to 
the,people of these great conveniences and necessities 
could be reduced fifty per cent., and taxes and the 
vexatious question of taxation v/ould largely dis¬ 
appear. The taxation of mankind for the benefit of 
men is the worst feudalism ever inflicted upon the 
world. There has never been a'moment of the world’s 
history when it has been right to sell or give away a 
franchise to afford private greed an opportunity to 
plunder private individuals or assault public treasuries. 
Whence comes the right of one man to get a franchise 
from the public which enables him to take bread from, 
the lips of my child, that he may please the palate of 
his own child with tropical fruits? Why plant these 
monopolies in the soil? 

Who of us possess the moral courage and broad 
and deep sympathy with humanity sufficiently to join in 
this battle for human rights against the unjust takers of 
the fruits of labor, the oppressors of the poor? 

Suppose the railroads, street railways, telegraph and 
telephone systems had existed when these United States 
were formed, and the Constitution was adopted, do you 
think they would have been left untouched by those 
great patriots and statesmen? 

Do you think that if those great men, founding a 
republic and writing its organic law, could have seen 
this vast country spider-webbed with railroads, tele¬ 
graphs and telephones, they would have allowed the 
spiders to build their webs and hang their gauze meshes 
over every street and highway in the land? They would 
have seen at a glance these are means of public comfort 
and necessity. They are exactly like the king’s highway 
and post-road; they belong to all the public, and for the 
same reason that it is not good government to allow 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS, 


23 


private corporations for private greed to own the public 
highway or post-roads, so it is not right to allow them 
to own the railroad, or telegraph, or telephone. They 
would have seen that it was WTong, and is now wrong, 
to permit the railroad, telegraph and telephone spiders 
to continue the invitation so alluring, ‘‘Come into my 
parlor.” 

What the founders of the government would have 
done to erect this government, we should do in order to 
perpetuate it. 

To acquire these properties, the government could 
get the money at three or four per cent, per annum, or 
issue notes or bonds bearing the same amount of 
'interest. We have a start then on three per cent, for 
capital, while many of these roads and companies pay 
dividends equal to twelve per cent, per annum, and 
that on watered stock and fictitious values, and after 
paying high and monstrous salaries. 

With no fabulous salaries to be paid to six hundred 
presidents and their staffs and high-priced managers, 
and no waste in gambling and competition; no attor¬ 
neys and solicitors ; no immense, extraordinary expenses 
for political campaigns and ^^explanations" for Congress¬ 
men and legislators ; no expensive advertisements; no 
strikes, passes, rebates, commissions and dividends; no 
large damages paid to a few injured parties, but every" 
injured person, where the injury results from negligence 
of employes, would be allowed a proper amount for the 
injury, as a pension, or a payment at once—then, I say, 
it is not inaccurate to state that fifty per cent, of the 
burden of these monopoly rates could be lifted from the 
people ; in a quarter of a century the plants could all 
be paid for. Not only so; the revenue derived from 
these sources would pay the expenses of the Federal 


24 


THE VOTER'S X’RAYS. 


government, and not a dollar of tax be required from 
the individual. 

At this time the Chicago business men are back of a 
movement to have a law enacted in Illinois fixing the 
rate at two cents per mile for passengers on steam rail¬ 
roads. The report of earnings shows they can carry 
passengers for one-fourth cent per mile and still make 
a reasonable profit. 

The saving to the people of court expenses occasioned 
by railroad litigation would be marvelous. 

First: The litigation between railroads constitutes a 
large share of the occupation of courts. 

Secondly: The litigation between individuals and 
railroads. In some localities two-thirds of the time of 
the circuit courts is occupied with damage suits against 
railroad, street railway and telephone or telegraph 
companies. Day after day the courts are engaged in 
piling up expenses to be paid by the people, while 
hearing and determining railroad litigation. 

Look at the calendars of our superior courts and see 
how they are swollen with the same class of litigation. 

If the government owned all these fertile fields of 
litigation it could at once abolish the litigation. Claims 
for damages could be placed under the pension depart¬ 
ment or a special department. 

The cry now goes up : “Give us more courts and 
more judges.” This means more salary and more tax. 
I meet the cry: “Abolish the bones of contention and 
stop the fighting.” Wipe out the cause and away goes 
the effect. 

Look at the struggle to get taxes from the railroad, 
telegraph and telephone companies. Sum up the 
appalling expense incurred in the effort to tax them and 
to collect the taxes from them. All this waste can be 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


25 

saved by simply giving to our government a scope com¬ 
mensurate with the necessities of the governed. 

What other governments have clone and are doing the 
United States can do. 

There are fifty-seven governments owning in whole 
or in part the railroads on their territory. There are 
sixty-nine governments owning in whole or in part tlie 
telegraphs in their country. 

It is conservatively estimated that government owner¬ 
ship of railroads by the United States would save io the 
public six hundred and sixty-two million dollars a year. 
Thus the saving alone would be two hundred and sixty- 
two millions a year more than the Federal taxes amount 
to. Count the savings of trolley and street railways 
from the same reason—municipal government ov/ner- 
ship—and you have in savings to the people by such 
ownership-enough to pay the whole burden of tax of 
$900,000,000 for Federal, State and local purposes. 

In 1870 the British government purch??sed from 
private companies the telegraphs for the sum of 
000,000 ($53,500,000). This was an excessive valua¬ 
tion. 

This is what has been done : 

Before the purchase there were 3,000 offices ; in 1893 
there were 10,000. 

In 1870 there were annually sent 7,000,000 telegrams, 
at an average cost of fifty-four cents per message ; in 
1893 there were sent 70,000,000, at an average cost per 
message of fifteen cents. 

Now, compare these figures with what was done in 
this free and equal-rights-and-privileges country, the 
United States. The private telegraph companies of the 
United States for 1893 sent 66,591,858 messages at an 
average cost of 31.2 cents per message ; an acknowl- 


26 


THE VOTEHS X-KAYS. 


edged profit of 11.3 cents per message. In 1895 the 
Western Union Company sent 58,307,715 messages, 
received $22,218,019, and made a profit of $6,141,389, 
being a profit of 10.5 cents on each message. 

The New York and Brooklyn bridge shows what 
municipal ownership can do for the people. It cost 
$15,000,000. Tolls on the railroad cost 2^ cents, foot 
passengers free from June i, 1891. Six hundred and 
fifty people are employed on the bridge. Engineers 
get $4.00 for eight hours ; on the Manhattan Ele¬ 
vated they only get $3.50 for nine hours. In the same 
proportion are other employes paid, and the railroad 
men have to furnish their own uniforms, while such is 
not the case with the bridge employes. Two and one- 
half millions of dollars have been turned over to the 
two cities from the earnings of the bridge. 

The American Bell Telephone Company in 1894 paid 
its stockholders $3,000,000 on a capital of $20,000,000. 
The net earnings of the company were $3, i23,''785. Its 
subscribers have increased from 171,454 in 1889 to 
243,432 in 1895. It is comparatively new, and growing 
in popularity. 

How long will our people continue to furnish the 
means of their own enslavement? How long will the 
people continue to grumble and groan at high taxes, 
and yet still vote for higher taxation? The plunder by 
private corporations owning gas or electric light 
plants is very common information. The saving to the 
people from municipal ownership is very large. I have 
had an opportunity to witness the truth of this state¬ 
ment during my investigation. Any one can ascertain 
the same truth by either writing to or visiting munici¬ 
palities owning their plants. But when you endeavor 
to secure information from private companies, they 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


27 


look aghast, and maybe a polite official will tell you to 
“ mind your own business.” 

The following table I believe to be absolutely true : 


Each Arc Light, Yearly. 
Municipal Plant. 


Bangor, Me.^48.00 

Peabody, Mass. 62.00 

Huntington, Ill. 50.00 

Bloomington, Ill. 51.00 

Marshalltown, la. 27.00 


Before. 
Private Com’y. 

^150.00 
185.00 
146.00 
111.00 
125.00 


This table can be extended, and the same plundering 
will be evidenced by every town or city which you 
investigate, where private corporations for private greed 
operate the plants. 

The cause of all the people against the plunderers of 
the people is righteous. 

What of the great army of employes of the railroad, 
telegraph and telephone companies? Well, what about 
the great army of employes in the Postoffice Depart¬ 
ment? They haven’t hurt the government any, have 
they? Civil service has made their political action free 
and independent. Civil service can do the same for all 
other government employes, no matter how vast the 
numbers. The tenure of service shall be dependent 
upon fidelity of service. Promotions shall be based 
upon length of tenure and fitness. One more step: 
When the employe, by reason of age, sickness or acci¬ 
dent is unfit for further service, then the great heart of 
the government shall pension him. 

Before quitting this branch of my lecture, there are 
two points to which I invite attention. 

First: ‘ The original railway idea. 

Second : The earnings and profits from franchises 
rightly belong to all the people, for the use of all the 
people. 







28 


THE VO TEH S X-RAYS. 


The original idea of the railway was that it should be 
an iron or wooden highway, upon which any person 
could run his own car. It was to be a railed turnpike, 
and the owner of the highway was to have the right to 
collect toll. This was found to be impracticable, and 
then the idea was easily suggested that the owner of 
the tracks should also own and rent the cars. I men¬ 
tion this to show that the principle of the public 
highway was to be maintained. This idea also is the 
foundation for the other, viz.: That the earnings on a 
public highway ought to belong to the public, and private 
interest should not be allowed to intervene so as to use 
public comforts and necessities for private greed and 
profit. The government does but half govern when 
half its functions are in private hands and used for 
private plunder. 


% 


III. TRUSTS. 



RUSTS or monopolies are the most effective 


JL instruments for wholesale larceny. What is a 
trust? A trust is a fashionable name for a criminal 
conspiracy to put up prices of necessities, and to destroy 
individualism. It is a combination of men and capital for 
the purpose of making artificial economic laws. The ob¬ 
ject is to get greater gains upon the capital acquired and 
combined than natural laws would permit. The method 
is to limit the supply or create fictitious demands. The 
result is an arbitrary price. The means used are all 
mean. They buy up individual concerns, crush out 
those which cannot be bought ; boycot, blackmail, per¬ 
secution, bribery and illegality constitute the trust code. 

The celebrated jurist, Bacon, wrote of monopolies: 



THE VOTER’S X-RAYS. 


29 


Monopolies are void by the common law, as being 
against the freedom of trade, discouraging labor and 
industry, restraining persons from gaining an honest 
livelihood by a lawful employment, and putting it in 
the power of particular persons to set what prices they 
please upon a commodity; all of which are manifest 
inconveniences to the public.”— Bacon's Abridgment^ 
VoL IV. 

They are the companions of the tariff pirates—high¬ 
waymen on the roads of social and material progress. 

It is estimated there are 139 trusts in the United 
States. This means 139 pilferers ; 139 conspiracies 
against every honest man ; 139 combinations against 
each individual. 

To bring before the mind the extensive operations of 
these trusts, I take from the Handbook of Currency and 
Wealth, by Mr. George B. Waldron, the description of 
the ‘‘Trustful Mr. Smith : ” 

“Mr. Herbert Spencer Individualist Smith, who 
believes that the trusts can be safely left to look after 
the interests of the people, wakens early one morning, 
and, taking a trust match from a trust holder, he strikes 
it across a piece of trust emery paper, and holds it up 
to his trust watch to see whether it is time to arise. 
Springing from his trust bedstead, with trust wire 
mattress, he steps upon a trust rug, and walks across a 
trust carpet, stumbling against a trust chair on liis way. 
Taking off the trust lamp chimney, he lights a trust 
lamp, filled with trust oil. 

“The morning is chilly, so he opens the trust register 
and lets in the hot air from the trust furnace, heated 
with trust coal. Going to the bath-room, he turns on 
the trust water, heated by a trust range, and running 
through trust pipes into a trust bath-tub. Then, using 
a trust sponge, and a piece of trust soap, he completes 
his morning bath. 

“This done, he proceeds to dress, drawing on his 
trust socks and trust shoes, made of trust leather, not 


30 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


neglecting to securely fasten bis trust collar and trust 
cuffs to bis trust shirt. He now raises the trust window- 
shades, and, raising up the trust window-sash, he opens 
the trust window-blinds, and secures them with trust 
fastenings. Then he closes the window, and looks 
through the trust glass at the trust gas still burning in 
the street below, while he opens his trust penknife and 
polishes his nails. Taking a last look in the trust 
mirror, he opens the trust door of his bed-room and 
descends to the dining-room. 

“He seats himself at the trust table, covered with 
trust linen, and eats his trust-ground oatmeal, cooked 
in a trust dish, and served in a trust saucer, with trust 
sugar and trust milk. Then he takes up a trust carving- 
knife, cuts a piece of trust beefsteak, puts it on his 
trust plate, and seasons it with trust salt. Now, from 
a trust spoon, he sips trust coffee, while he munches a 
piece of bread made from trust flour. 

“Breakfast over, he rushes into the hallway, and puts 
on his trust hat and trust gloves, preparatory to going 
to the city. It is storming, so he puts on his trust 
rubbers, and takes down his trust umbrella from a trust 
rack. Entering the trust railway station, he boards a trust 
train, taking a seat in a trust-made car, which moves on 
trust rails laid on trust steel sleepers. A trust newsboy 
supplies him with the morning paper, and he reads the 
trust-collected news, brought in by trust telegraph, and 
printed with trust type. 

“He spends the morning in his office dictating to a 
stenographer, w'ho writes with a trust lead-pencil, and 
then uses a trust typewriter for trust letters, written on 
trust paper, and enclosed in trust envelopes. For his 
noon lunch he takes trust oysters with trust crackers; 
then he steps into a trust saloon, and buys a trust 
cigar ; he closes with a trust glass of trust whisky, 
which so unsettles his mind that in crossing the trust- 
asphalt-paved street he falls before the trust street-car, 
and is crushed beneath the trust street-car upon trust 
wheels. 

“A trust telephone is used to summon the surgeon, 
who uses trust restoratives, and, then administering 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


31 


trust chloroform, he performs an operation with trust 
surgical instruments. 

“ Not surviving the injury, Mr. Smith’s body is given 
in charge of a trust undertaker, who puts on a trust 
shroud, and puts him in a trust casket. 

‘‘Mr. Herbert Spencer Individualist Smith finally 
rests in peace beneath a trust tombstone.” 

Now, see how these trusts work in the United States : 

In 1880 there were 1,943 establishments engaged in 
the manufacturing of agricultural implements ; the profit 
per establishment, ^11,194; 1^9^ there were 910 

establishments engaged in the same line of business, 
with a profit per establishment of ^30,612. 

Again: In 1880 there were 1,990 establishments 
engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods ; the capital 
per establishment was $48,289. In 1890 there were 
1,311 of these establishments, with capital per estab¬ 
lishment of $99,916. 

One more illustration : In 1880 there were 5,424 
leather establishments ; the profit per establishment was 
$4,682; capital, $12,371. In 1890 there were 1,596 of 
these establishments, the profits per establishment 
being $12,745 ; capital, $50,916 

When you thus permit wealth to be concentrated, 
decrease small or individual establishments, and then 
double, treble and quadruple profits, you unjustly take 
from the masses, and add to the wealth of the capital¬ 
istic classes. If the present methods are continued and 
the consequent increase in the ranks of dependents, the 
swelling of the army bidding for work to earn enough 
for the merest necessities, the surplus over the necessi¬ 
ties all taxed into the pockets of the rich, how long do 
you say this republic can last? 

Mr. Shearman, who is exceedingly conservative, says 
that these United States are now owned by 250,000 


32 


THE VOTER'S X-RAVS. 


persons. If the present methods of plunder are con¬ 
tinued, there will soon come a time when a very few will 
own this entire country. 

Mr. Holmes thinks Mr. Shearman has underestimated 
the wealth of the very rich men. Mr. Charles B. 
Spohr, a law lecturer of New York City, and associate 
editor of the Outlook, shows that 225,000 families own 
54.8 per cent, of all the wealth of this country ; they have 
$32,880,000,000; the rest of the wealth is distri¬ 
buted between 6,135,000 families. You then have 
6,250,000 families, or fifty per cent, of the people of the 
United States, as the very poor, and who own nothing. 

Mr. Spohr’s comment should be lodged in the. brain 
of every thoughtful American : 

Whatever error there is in this table is demonstra¬ 
bly on the side of underestimating the present concen¬ 
tration of wealth, for in the returns made to the 
surrogates the debts are not yet deducted from the value 
of the estates, and it is the small house-owners and 
farmers, as well as the small shopkeepers, whose debts 
cover the more considerable portion of their holdings. 
We must recognize, therefore, that the nation’s vast 
wealth does not bring comfort and independence to the 
rank and file of the people. If the nation’s wealth is to 
mean the nation’s well-being, the rank and file of the 
people must reverse the policies which the rich and their 
tools have thrust upon them.” 

Think of it! 4,047 millionaires. Twenty-five million 
persons do not own as much as the law of exemption 
allows them! 

Some preachers have endeavored to point out an 
economic principle in favor of trusts. There can be no 
economic principle on which to base a system which 
destroys honest individual effort, and robs the masses for 
the benefit of the few. 

There is a moral side to these questions. The Chris- 



THE VOTER'S X-RAVS, 


33 


tian ministers are failing in their duty. Men are 
tempted to sell their souls for the world. On the moun¬ 
tain of greed, the trust devil says : ‘‘Worship me, and 
all the fields of labor, and fruits of the toiling masses, 
will I give unto you.” On the pinnacle of fame the 
statesmen hear the satanic voice of monopoly and trust 
flatter them as gods, and they cast themselves down into 
the arms of the wingless angels of greedy trusts and 
monopolies. 

When the suggestions of trusts being for the best 
interests of humanity begin to drop from the pulpit, I am 
reminded, there is no sin against humanity which the 
devil can’t get justified from the pew, the pulpit or the 
editorial sanctum. 

However, it is due to the Philadelphia Record to say 
that, while its editorial columns advocate monopoly¬ 
money and methods, it often sets a truth in type, as is 
the following : 

“Mr. Cockran is greatly mistaken, too, in assuming 
that the party defeated at the recent elections will 
remain in the field as the party of ‘ anarchy and repudi¬ 
ation,’ as he calls it. That party is already falling 
asunder from pressure within and without. But it 
will depend upon the Republicans in the next Congress 
whether all the elements of opposition, including the 
sound-money Democrats, shall be formed into a mighty 
organization to curb the trusts and monopolies, which 
are preparing for a new campaign of spoils under the 
Republican wing. Whoever shall encourage the Repub¬ 
lican party in passing a new tariff for the benefit Of these 
combinations in trade will not be its sincere well- 
wisher, nor will he serve the public cause, for good 
government could not survive the triumph of the trusts 
and monopolies in this or any other country.” 

The blow at trusts and monopolies must be at their 
roots. They were crimes at common law ; they are 


34 


THE VOTER’S X’RAYS, 


crimes now. Let Congress fix a penalty and imprison¬ 
ment on the person or persons organizing or carrying on 
a trust. A little law saying ten years in prison, and 
then trusts will soon disappear. 


% 


IV. THE TARIFF SWINDLE. 


T O my mind it appears that the tariff in the nine¬ 
teenth century has not lost the practical attributes 
that accompanied its birth. A tariff is a tax upon con¬ 
sumption, and a popular tax, because 3^ou don’t know 
you are paying it. It is a levy meant to be paid by 
foreigners, but actually paid by those who bask in its 
supposed blessings, because it adds to the price of the 
article. The rich and poor successively cry or laugh at 
its humbugs. When the rich praise it, the poor curse it. 
Its blessings are always spread broadcast just before 
the election of Congressmen ; it curses and blights the 
breakfast and supper of the poor after election. 

Tariff upon necessities bears ten times harder upon 
the poor man than upon the rich. The tramp and 
inmates of the almshouses are the only persons too poor 
to pay the tariff tax. It is a tax upon frugality. If a 
poor man wants to save some of his earnings, the 
stealthy and unseen hand of the tariff-tax gatherer is run 
into his savings bank. What he pays for tariff on his 
sugar, blankets, clothing and other necessities, he might, 
but for the tariff tax, add to his savings. 

The gross expense of the people’s living is estimated 
at ^8,000,000,000 per year. Tariff is fixed pro rata upon 
this sum. 

The greatest number consume the largest quantityj 


THE VOTEHS X’RAYS, 


35 


and, therefore, pay the largest share of the tariff. The 
farmers pay twenty-five per cent, of the tariff tax and 
tariff burdens. There are 4,135,000 families in the 
United States that live on an income of less than ^400 
per year, and 2,622,516 families that live on less than 
^600 per year. It will be seen at a glance these families 
must bear the greatest amount of tariff-tax, as they con¬ 
sume the most of the necessities of life. To make a 
tariff produce revenue, its burdens must be laid upon 
necessities. The 4,000 millionaires constitute but a very 
small portion of our population and consumers, 
and hence bear but a slight proportion of the tariff 
robbery. 

We export agricultural productions, and do not 
import them. How, then, can the tariff benefit the 
farmer? He can’t tell. No one else can tell. Tariff is 
meant to prevent trade, and not cultivate trade relations. 

Buy of me, but I want tribute to buy of you, or a tax 
high enough to prevent you selling to me,” says the 
tariff. 

But the Farmers’ National Congress, which recently 
met at Indianapolis, joins in the demand for bounties 
and tax on wool. The Executive Committee of the 
National Grange demands : ‘‘There should be not only 
sufficient duties levied to build up trade and commerce 
of a nation, and fulfill the highest functions of a govern^ 
ment, but it may also become necessary to pay bounties 
in order to maintain a proper relation among all indus¬ 
tries of a nation.” The end they propose could be 
reached with more speed and certainty if they would 
sink every cargo as it approached our shores. 

In one breath the farmers cry for more tax upon 
themselves and the nation, and in the next breath they 
wail over the high taxes. They want to build up trade 


36 


THE VOTER S X-RAYS. 


and commerce by preventing trade and commerce 
through the high duties. 

The farmers now pay on an average 30 per cent, of 
the real estate taxes, 25 per cent, of the personal prop¬ 
erty tax, and 25 per cent- of the tariff tax and private 
plunder connected with it. How can they be so blind 
to their own welfare! 

Of the added cost to the consumer of a tariffed article, 
only about one-fourth gets into the United States treas¬ 
ury. The dealer’s profits are equal to 25 per cent, 
added. 

This tax benefits those who cry loudest for its changes. 
When a vast store of goods are produced under a low 
tariff, or imported under it, then these sharks cry out 
for higher tariff. Then they unload, and make vast 
sums of money. When they have unloaded, their cry 
is, “ V/e must have a tariff revision,” that they may load 
up again at low prices. Then there is a repetition of 
the cry for high tariff. The farmer and the poor man 
don’t have the capital with which to load up, and they 
get left. 

I most unreservedly indorse the conclusions of Thomas 
Shearman : (i) Tariff is a levy of tribute upon the 

masses for the direct profit of the wealthy classes, and 
(2) it results in enormous taxation of the poor, and 
almost entire exemption of the rich.” 

But, they say, the laborers must be protected against 
the pauper-labor of Europe. 

It is an indisputable fact that for the last twenty-five 
years the wages of our laborers have been growing pain¬ 
fully nearer to those of the laborers of Europe. Pro¬ 
tection has not kept up wages. 

The real way of protecting our laborers against 
cheaper labor is by preventing that labor from coming 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


37 


to this country. Those who shout loudest for protection 
of American labor against Europe’s cheap labor are most 
bitterly opposed to prohibition of immigration, or 
restricted immigration. Labor unions are a better pro¬ 
tection to American laborers than protective tariffs. 
America for Americans is still better. 

Protection does not directly affect, nor do I believe 
indirectly, the wages of the carpenter, engineer, fire¬ 
man, brakeman, blacksmith, mason, bricklayer, butcher, 
waiter, barber, printer, clerk, bartender, mail-carrier, 
policeman, motorman, conductor, salesman, author, 
actor, lawyer, doctor, preacher or farm-laborer. It 
certainly donU protect the scavenger against competition 
of cheap foreign labor. It is a heavier burden on the 
married man than on the single man, as he has more 
mouths to feed, and more backs to clothe. 

Is free trade right? Yes; trade as free as the air! 
But how can we get revenue? This used to puzzle me. 
I have solved the problem to the satisfaction of my own 
mind. By one or two methods revenue can be raised— 
revenue for Federal, local and State purposes: 

1. Either by municipal. State and Federal ownership 
and operation of every franchise, or by the incomes 
from franchises. Let the people retake these franchises 
which have been bartered or given away. 

2. Or by direct and single tax upon rents or land 
values and incomes. These methods would accomplish 
this result: The burden of government would be placed on 
those most able to bear it. It can be demonstrated to a 
mathematical certainty that the tax received from such 
methods will be light upon those most able to bear it. 
Under the first, every one having the use of the franchise 
would pay for such use as they now pay for sending 
a letter by mail; under the second, the poor and 


38 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


landless would be entirely free from the burden of tax¬ 
ation. The vast burden of $900,000,000 for Federal and 
local taxes in the United States, as now assessed, 
imposes a duty or levy of about ig per cent, on expenses, 
and about 5 per cent, on the savings of the rich, while it 
is about 80 per cent, on the poor. Add the immense 
plunder of private corporations holding public franchises, 
and that of trusts and monopolies and money-changers, 
maintaining scarce and dear money, and then ask, why 
does wealth concentrate in the hands of the few? Can it 
help concentrating under the present plundering meth¬ 
ods? While the poor like it, can you change it? We 
are educating the masses to believe that they must be 
poor, that four thousand poor daily laborers are mem¬ 
bers of one rich man’s belly. We are educating farmers 
to believe that peasantry and tenantry are better than 
the ownership of farms. 

It is conceded that there is no way to stop t’he tariff 
agitation as long as we keep a system by which we plun¬ 
der one class for the benefit of another. It soon follows 
that the plucked class loses all its feathers, and then 
gets cold and begins to squall. Then there is an effort 
to get back the lost feathers. What is the sensible 
thing to do? Just abolish the monster pirate. Porter’s 
celebrated motto was, ‘‘Free trade and sailors’ rights.” 
My motto is, “ Free trade and humanity’s rights. Mo¬ 
nopolists and tariff pirates offend them.” Let us pre¬ 
pare this country as speedily as possible for a just 
system of taxation, and get rid of tariff plunder. 

When the plunderers get a policy to suit them, then 
they advise, “ Wewant restd\ When you are plucking 
the feathers and down off the old goose, you want the 
goose to rest. While you are shearing the old ram, you 
want him to have a perfect rest. You rest while you 



THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


39 


are plucked or sheared. While the pickpockets are in 
your pocket or house, they prefer you should rest. 
Yes, rest, while your property and your rights are 
wrested from you. 

Daniel Webster, in opposing the tariff act of 1824, 
said : 

‘‘One great object proposed was the increase of the 
home market for consumption of agricultural products, 
but what provisions of the bill were expected to pro¬ 
duce this were not stated.” 

James G. Blaine said of a tariff law : 

“There was not a letter, syllable, word or sentence 
in it to make a market for a pound of pork or bushel of 
wheat.” 

Those who profit by plunder always appeal to two 
classes: The laboring men and the farmers. These two 
classes have the majority of the votes, hence they must 
be convinced or bribed. 

To sum up the tariff nonsense, this is the proposition : 
We must have a tariff to get revenue ; we must have a 
tariff to protect the manufacturer or laborer from com¬ 
petition of cheap foreign goods and men ; to get reve¬ 
nue we must import goods off of which the required 
revenue is to be collected; after the revenue is collected 
the goods are here to be sold and compete with our 
own make of goods ; the importer must compete with 
the manufacturer for the sale of their respective goods; 
our own laborers lose the work of making the goods 
the government has to bring in, in order to get revenue; 
the consumer has to pay a higher price to keep the 
business of importing on the move ; to protect and keep 
out the goods, the tariff must be high enough to keep 
out such goods ; keep out the goods, then you do not 
get any revenue. The sequence is : A very high tariff 


40 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


stops importation and revenue ; a very low tariff invites 
importation and produces revenue ; a moderate tariff 
does neither, or the different kinds of tariff may pro¬ 
duce the contrary of these apparent results. Hence it 
is indisputable that revenue sought after by measures of 
tariff is a speculation by the government. Tariff tax is 
like the taking of an anaesthetic to have a tooth 
extracted : you don’t know you have been hurt, but the 
tooth and blood are gone ; you don’t know you are 
paying the tax, because you are hypnotized with its 
supposed blessings. 


¥ 


V. THE INCOME TAX. 


NTIL such time as we can have the necessity for 



all taxes abolished by municipal. State and Fed¬ 
eral ownership of franchises, or a single tax on land 
values, I am in favor of the income tax, as one of the 
most effective means of placing the burden of govern¬ 
ment upon those best able to bear it, and who 
now proportionably bear the least of the expenses of a 
government which affords them the most comfort and 
protection. 

The master stroke by which the rich go free, and the 
poor are more heavily loaded with indirect taxes, is the 
decision of the United States Supreme Court in the 
case of Pollock vs. the Farmers’ Loan and Trust Com¬ 
pany. The opinions in the cases will be found in the 
‘‘Federal Reporter,” Vol. 159 to 163, pages 673, etc., 
and the rehearing of case in the same volume. 

I grant that the judges who joined in the opinion that 
the act was unconstitutional were honest and incorrupt. 
But they are human beings. Their prejudices, and 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


41 


natural or cultivated dispositions are not above other 
mortals, so far as to make them infallible. 

The insidious and overruling power of wealth hits a 
judge as heavily as it does other human beings. There 
are a thousand strings to the human heart; one can be 
so loudly and violently vibrated as to silence all the 
others. On political questions, the court has never 
been able to rise above the level of the politics involved 
and determined by it. This was true in the famous 
legal-tender cases and the election case of Tilden and 
Hayes. That some of the judges in the income tax 
decision voted contrary to their political preferments, 
only shows that judges sometimes sit up so straight 
they fall over backwards. 

I believe the supreme court is wrong in its income 
tax decision. To entertain jurisdiction of the case, the 
court violated an act of Congress. The cour! i-iF-t dis¬ 
obeyed an act of Congress. It fell back on gl . as 

to equity powers and jurisdiction, while such powers 
and jurisdiction had been taken away by an act of 
Congress. 

The act of Congress is as follows : 

<‘No suit for the purpose of restraining the collection 
of any tax shall be maintained in any court .”—Revised 
Statutes of the United States^ Section 322^. 

To criticise the income tax decision, we are not 
obliged to go out of the court itself for criticism. 

Mr. Justice Harlan said : 

“ The present suits are merely devised to strike down 
the general revenue law by degrees; and neither the 
government nor any other officer of the United States 
could be rightly made parties of record.” 

Again : 

“Upon principle, and under the doctrines announced 


42 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


by this court, a tax upon gains, profits and income from 
rents of land is not a direct tax upon such land within 
the meaning of the Constitution.” 

Chief Justice Fuller and a majority of the court held 
‘*that a tax upon incomes and rents of real estate 
imposes a tax upon real estate itself.” 

In order to make this monstrous decision, and thereby 
increase the burdens of the poor, besides violating the 
statute of the United States, as we have already seen, 
the majority of the court was obliged to overrule the 
decisions and precedents of the court of one hundred 
years, and ignore the law as laid down by every text 
writer of law, every statesman and publicist. The proof 
of this statement appears in the decision itself, and was 
brought home to the consciences of the majority of the 
court by the able and exhaustive opinion of Justice 
White, in which Justice Harlan concurred fully. 

Now for the proofs. 

Alexander Hamilton said : 

“ Capitation and poll taxes, and taxes on lands and 
buildings; all else must be construed as indirect 
taxes.”— Hamilton's Works (^Lodge's Ed.') jj 2 . 

But the majority of the court found comfort in the 
exclamation of Lord Coke (English jurist): “For 
what is land but the profit thereof.” 

In Hylton vs. The U. S., 3 Dali., page 171, Justice 
Chase said : 

“I am inclined to think the direct taxes contem¬ 
plated by the Constitution are only two, to wit: Cap¬ 
itation, or poll taxes simply, and taxes on land. I 
doubt whether taxes by general assessment of personal 
property in the United States are direct taxes within 
the meaning of the Constitution.” 

In Cheatham vs. U. S., 92 U. S. 85, Justice Miller 
said : 



THE VO TEH S X-EAVS. 


43 


there existed in the courts, State or national, any 
general power, limiting or controlling the collection of 
taxes, or from hardship incident to taxation, the very 
existence of the government might be placed in the 
power of a hostile judiciary.” 

Justice White said : 

“The suit was maintained against express statutory 
authority and requirements ; ‘That no suit for the 
purpose of restraining assessment or collection of taxes 
shall be maintained in any court.’” 

The carriage tax of 1792 was held to be constitutional, 
and received the approval of George Washington. 
Among the judges who decided the act to be constitu¬ 
tional were Justices Patterson and Wilson, both of 
whom had been members of the original Constitutional 
Convention. 

Justice Patterson said : 

“I never entertained any doubt that the principal, I 
will not say the only, taxes the framers of the Con¬ 
stitution contemplated as falling within the rule of 
apportionment were capitation taxes and taxes on 
lands. ” 

Story says : 

“It is seriously doubted if, in the sense of the Con¬ 
stitution, any tax was a direct tax, except those on 
polls, or on lands.” 

Cooley on “Constitutional Limitations” (page 595), 
states : 

“Direct taxes, as employed in the Constitution, has 
a meaning embracing capitation and land taxes only.” 

Miller on Constitution (Sec. 282 A.), is to the same 
effect. In Pomeroy’s “Constitutional Law,” section 
281, it is said : 

“The reasons stated in the Hylton case are un¬ 
answerable. ” 


44 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


Hare on the American Constitution says : 

“Direct taxes, in the sense of the Constitution, are 
taxes on polls and on lands.” 

Burroughs, an authority on constitutional law, takes 
the same view. 

Black, writing on constitutional law, is to the same 
effect, and says : 

“So, also, an income tax is not to be considered 
direct, nor a succession tax imposed upon every devolu¬ 
tion of title to real estate.” 

From i86i to 1871 the Congress of the United States 
passed many laws imposing taxes upon incomes. 

In the case of Insurance Co. vs. Saul, 7 Wall., page 
443, it was held that the act was constitutional, and the 
tax was not a direct tax, dut}^ or excise. 

In the case of Bank vs. Ferno, 8 Wall., page 533, it 
was held that the term had been limited to taxes on 
land and capitation. 

In Scholey vs. Rew, 23 Wall., page 331, the issue 
was the right to place a tax upon the right to take real 
estate by inheritance. The collection was resisted on 
the ground that it was a direct tax, yet the court held 
it to be constitutional. 

In Springer vs. The U. S., cited in Justice White’s 
opinion, the assessment was on professional earnings 
and interest on United States bonds. Held constitu¬ 
tional. 

All these cases were decided by the United States 
Supreme Court, and with just as learned judges on the 
bench as are now there. 

Justice White, in his opinion, cites from Fearn Rem. 
(London ed. 1801, page 264) : 

“A future judge may hold himself obliged to change 
a principle, and even consider it his duty to pay little 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS, 


45 

regard to the maxims and decisions of those who went 
before him.” 

Justice Fuller and his associates had no scruples in 
wiping out the decisions which preceded them. 

“This decision of the majority of the court has given 
the same word in the Constitution two meanings. One 
when applied to an income tax generally, and another 
when applied to apportionment of such tax made up in 
part of rentals. One, when applied to the greater, and 
another, when applied to the lesser. The opinion is 
fraught with danger to the court, to the Constitution, 
and to the republic. Teach the lesson that settled 
principles may be overthrown at any time, and con¬ 
fusion and turmoil must ultimately result. 

“If its opinions are to be changed by the personal 
opinions of those who may from time to time make up 
its membership, it will be a theatre of political strife. 
My strong conviction forbids that I take part in the 
conclusion, which seems to me so fraught with danger 
to the country.” 

So, you see. Justice White criticises the opinion of 
the majority, and it would be presumptuous for me to 
add to these criticisms. But we have language quite 
as forceful from the pen of another member of the 
court—^Justice Jackson. He is now deceased, but the 
following sentences will make him revered among the 
patriots of America : 

“The decision takes invested wealth into the Con¬ 
stitution as a favored and protected class of property, 
which cannot be taxed without apportionment, while it 
leaves the occupation of the minister, the doctor, the 
lawyer, the inventor, the author, the merchant, and 
other forms of industry upon which prosperity depends, 
subject to taxes without that condition. 

“A rule which works out these results, it seems to 
me, is an instrument of most grievous wrong, and should 
not be adopted, especially when in order to do so the 
decisions of this court, the opinions of law writers, and 


46 


THE VOTER'S X’RAYS. 


the settled policy of the government must be overthrown. 
It is to be deplored that for more than one hundred 
years of our national existence, after the government has 
withstood the strain of foreign wars and hostile civil 
strife, this court should repudiate and reject the theory 
of the Constitution by which the government is deprived 
of an inherent attribute of its being—the necessary 
power of taxation.” 

It was a grand triumph for those who live on the fruits 
of others’ labor when, by specious arguments and soph¬ 
istry, they obtained the decision of our highest court 
(by a majority of one), which says : If you want an 
income tax, collect it from the “minister, doctor, law¬ 
yer, merchant, author, inventor, mechanic,” and the 
industrial classes. O, you sluggards! Will you per¬ 
mit such a distinction in favor of the rich to exist in this 
country, which boasts of equal rights? 

Nine-tenths of the tariff plunder is now borne by the 
poor—by the classes named by Justice Jackson—and yet 
a court of justice remakes the Constitution, by which an 
income tax can be saddled upon the overtaxed classes. 
In the peril of war, the court says, yes, you can make 
an income tax, but you must collect it from the people 
named by Justice 'Jackson. A tax on rent is a tax on 
real estate ; a tax on yoiir grandmother's cat is a tax on 
your grandfather's dog. 

Now, look at this plundering doctrine : A widow has 
a little home. She pays tax for every dollar it is worth, 
and tariff taxes besides. She has a boarder, who has an 
income of $10,000 a year. He pays no other tax than 
the tariff tax a single man has to pay. We will say he 
and the widow are on equal footing as to tariff tax; but 
how grossly unequal when he does not have to pay a 
tax on his income! 

The principle of the income tax is right. Other 


THE VOTER'S X-RAVS. 


47 


countries have income taxes, and it is not thought to be 
anarchy nor communism. 

It is objected against an income tax that it occasions 
a prying into the private affairs and accounts of persons. 
This same objection can be made against all forms of 
taxes, except the single land tax. 

Again, it is objected that an income tax is a fruitful 
cause of perjury. So are all forms of taxes except the 
single land tax. Can you invent any tax more produc¬ 
tive of perjury than the tariff tax? These taxes on 
incomes are advocated only so long as they are necessary, 
and during the time that will be required to get a fran¬ 
chise income, or single land tax, or both. What can be 
done with the income tax decision? Why, attack it 
right before the Supreme Court of the United States. 
When you have a case in court, and the court decides 
against you, you appeal or apply for a rehearing. This 
is a constitutional right. Nothing can be ended in legal 
controversies until ended rightly. The decisions of the 
court covering a period of a hundred years and all the 
text writers of law are more likely to be right than the 
opinion of one judge, changed between the hearings of 
the case. It is an established rule that precedents are 
to be followed, unless flatly absurd or unjust. There is 
no sane man who can show that the income tax decisions 
of the court for one hundred years were absurd or 
unjust. 

Is this anarchy? If so, then the future government 
of our country is in the hands of the nine judges of the 
Supreme Court of the United States. If we have not 
the right to point out the folly and danger of the doc¬ 
trine pronounced in the Pollock case, then free speech 
has vanished. We have the right to discuss the action 
of the court; we have the right to pass an income tax 


48 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


law, and attack tlie decision in the Pollock case; we 
have the right to take another case before the court, and 
show the court that it was wrong ; we have the right to 
show the majority of the judges the errors of their judi¬ 
cial ways ; we have the right to tell the court it shall not 
disobey an act of Congress and interfere with the power 
of taxation by the sovereign people. We have the right 
to tell Chief Justice Fuller and his associates what Lord 
Coke told King James when the latter determined to 
hear what cases he pleased, and ignore the courts, that 
“The King is subject to the laws of the realm.” The 
King told Coke he was guilty of treason to say so. 

Those whose interest it is to escape an income tax 
cry out against the advocates of the tax, “treason and 
anarchy.” They are the King Jameses of America. 
Though we believe that the majority of the court was 
wrong, it does not follow that we disrespect the court. 
We want the court respected and obeyed, but we want 
the court to be right, and in harmony with the spirit of 
our institutions. 

If the court, and not Congress, is to shape the policy 
of our nation, then nine men, whom the people cannot 
reach, are our ultimate lawmakers. 

If such great power as was exercised in the Pollock 
case by these gentlemen is in truth possessed by them, 
then v/e want the term of office fixed for a definite 
period. This will keep the court in sympathy with the 
people. 

In a free and representative government no man 
should be permitted to hold office for more than seven 
years. Each officer should know that he is answerable 
to the people for his acts in office. If the framers of 
the Constitution could have had the experience we have 
had by limited terms of office for our judges in our 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


49 


different States, they would never have adopted a life 
tenure, or tenure during good behavior, in our supreme 
court. So long as a judge is competent and behaves 
himself in our State courts, he is re-elected or re-ap¬ 
pointed. What is true of the judiciary of the States, 
tell me why it would not be true in the United States. 

The stability of the court does not depend upon the 
length of service of the judge, but upon his regard for 
and obedience to the precedents of such court. 

Dr. Story has the following to say on this point: 

‘‘Our government is emphatically of laws, and not 
of men, and judicial decisions of the highest tribunals 
by the known course of the common law are considered 
as establishing the true construction of the laws which 
are brought Into controversy before it. The case is not 
alone considered as decided and settled, but the prin¬ 
ciples of the decision are held as precedents and 
authority, to bind future cases of the same nature. 
This is the constant practice of our whole system of 
jurisprudence. Our ancestors brought it with them 
when they first emigrated to this countr}^ and it is and 
always has been considered the great security of our 
rights, our liberties and our property. A more alarm¬ 
ing doctrine could not be promulgated by any court 
than that it was at liberty to disregard all former rules 
and decisions, and to decide for itself, without reference 
to the settled course of antecedent principles.” 


VI. BRIBERY. 

I N spite of laws with harsh penalties, bribery was 
never conducted on more ample scales than now. 
I believe it has never reached the President of the 
United States, notwithstanding the many strange stories 


50 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


told in connection with a President. I want to believe 
there is still one office in the United States unblighted 
by the curse of money-love. 

From the office of United States Senator down to 
dog-catcher, Bribery has sung her siren song, spread 
her golden pestilence, and bred the contagion of cor¬ 
ruption. It is not unjust to say that our United States 
Senate is the speculator’s ear-trumpet, and the million¬ 
aire’s workshop. The House of Representatives is 
Monopoly’s auction-room and the lobbyist’s paradise. 
This does not mean all the Congressmen are bribed. 
Many of them are excellent men. Can you get the legal 
proof of the bribery? No. Does any sane man doubt the 
fact of bribery being in Congress? No. Partisan papers 
of all parties openly charge it against opposite parties. 

Thus, in 1888, the convention of the Republican 
party charged that the proposed tariff revision was dic¬ 
tated by the whisky trust. You remember that the 
Democratic party charged that the tariff victories of 
1880 and 1888 were the result of open bribery of voters; 
that the tariff bills of 1883 and 1890 were carried through 
Congress by purchasing or furnishing money for the 
election of Congressmen, and then explaining to them 
after election, such explanations always requiring large 
sums of money. The very recent Congress, and the 
speculations in sugar, and the charges that money was 
furnished by the sugar trusts to elect Congressmen, 
are ripe for reflection. Contributions of 1896 are to be 
paid back by the Dingley tariff bill. 

The exposures of the vast sums of money used by the 
whisky trust—^600,000 for “statistics,” and ^500,000 
for ‘ ‘ extraordinary legal expenses ”—prove bribery. The 
money was admitted to have been used in explanation 
and persuasion of Congress. 


THE VO TEH S X-RAYS. 


51 


The corruption of our State Legislatures is notorious. 
Do you say it is imagined? Then you are asleep to 
events. Instances are on the record of my memory 
where members of the Legislature have received money 
enough on a single vote to discharge farm mortgages, 
and others became rich enough to live in dignified 
leisure after serving a single term in the Senate. 

It is a very common practice to bribe members of 
City Councils for granting of franchises. New York City 
is the largest city, and it is there the Aldermen have 
received the most money for their votes. Chicago is a 
close second, and the instances of aldermanic corruption 
in that city are not only numerous, but notorious as 
well. What is true of New York City and Chicago is 
true of every municipal governing body in this country. 
Not all individual Councilmen are bribed, but too many 
of them. 

And now we want to take a look at the bribery of the 
individual voters. I want to take one county in the 
State of New Jersey to illustrate the widespread evil of 
bribery. I can remember when there were not more 
than 200 voters in the County of Burlington who sold 
their votes. Now, 2,500 out of a total of 12,000 voters 
is a very conservative estimate of the number demanding 
money for their votes ; 3,000 is within the number that 
can be bought. Any practical politician in the State, 
who knows anything about the county, if he could and 
would tell you the truth, will admit the accuracy of 
these figures. 

The sum of ^7,000 is required to control the county 
for the Democrats ; less for the Republicans, as the 
county has a nominal Republican plurality of 1,200. 
Absolutely true! 

Now, how did this condition come about? When 


52 


THE VO TEH S X-RAYS, 


H. B. S. ran for the office of State Senator, lie bar¬ 
gained with Republican and Democratic workers, and 
dealt with them on strict business principles, the same 
as he bought cattle. He was elected as a Democrat. 
Afterwards he ran for Congress, and received the Green¬ 
back vote, with the Democratic vote, by the use of the 
same methods and means applied to the whole con¬ 
gressional district. The latch-string and barrel-head 
were both out. He was elected in a district nominally 
3,000 to 4,000 Republican. Subsequently S. had 
a quarrel with Governor Leon Abbett, and S. 
determined that Abbett should not go to the United 
States Senate. S. put in money, and elected three 
Republican Assemblymen from Burlington County. 
S. went to Trenton and joined the Governor’s other 
opponents, pledging himself there for ^70,000 to defeat 
the Governor. The latter was defeated. S., as a 
persistent bribe-giver, has raised the army of bribe¬ 
takers. This year of 1896 has witnessed a contest with 
all the money on one side. The result was sure. 
Honest Republicans, Democrats and other partisans 
ought to take no offense at this statement of the truth. 

Suppose a poor man of learning and statesmanship, 
and in every way qualified for the office, announced 
himself as a candidate for the United States Senator- 
ship. The practical politicians take it as a joke, or else 
they ask: ‘‘Who is going to put up the boodle for 
him?*’ I know of an ex-Governor of a State who 
started out on a canvass of this kind among the mem- 
bers-elect of a Legislature. He had a private conference 
with two Assemblymen. A friend inquired of the 
ex-Governor as to how he made out with them. He 
answered : “They wanted $2,000 apiece. I can’t stand 
it. I am done.” And he was. 


THE VOTERSS X-RAYS. 


53 


There is but one way to get an important elective 
office in this country— it. The candidate must be 
able to buy it himself, or have it bought for him. In 
the first place, he must get back his money; in the 
second place, he must please his purchaser. You say 
this is too broad a statement. I say it is not. If you, 
innocent or guileless citizen, still insist the statement is 
untrue, then prove the truth or untruth of the statement 
by running for some high office. Still, I say, the 
bribery don’t stop with the elective offices, as appointive 
offices have been and are sold. The patronage-owner 
gets money for recommendations of particular candi¬ 
dates. 

Practical politicians acknowledge the power of money 
in politics. Practical politicians know the folly of 
endeavoring to elect a candidate without a large cam¬ 
paign fund. Manipulators of legislation aim to please 
particular large money interests, so as to get large con¬ 
tributions from them. It is entirely within the limit to 
say that the railroads of the United States spend 
annually thirty millions of dollars for corruption 
purposes. This is the sum well-informed writers 
name. 

Professor Bryce says of the lobby system : 

<‘A 11 legislative bodies which control important 
pecuniary interests are as sure to have a lobby as an 
army to have its camp-followers. Where the army is, 
there the camp vultures will be gathered together.” 

What was done with the huge campaign fund of the 
“money-lover’s party” of i8g6? You innocent parti¬ 
sans answer: “It was used to educate the voters.” 
Twenty millions is a nice sum to spend for education in 
so short a time. You know half of this money bought 
votes and the influence of vote-controllers. It stultifies 


54 


THE VOTEHS X^RAYS. 


your honesty or good sense and imperils the republic to 
deny it. 

But it is useless to take more of your time to prove 
the widespread evil of bribery; the overruling power of 
money-love. It is a fact. What is the sequence? As 
the masses are too poor to furnish the money for the 
campaign funds, the masses have ceased to be a ruling 
factor in our elections. 

Again, in making a platform and naming a ticket, the 
money-power tells the party exactly what it demands, 
and then haughtily adds : ‘‘We must be obeyed, or you 
will not get the campaign funds. We will not con¬ 
tribute, nor shall our allies.” Another sequence : The 
interests, of the money-power must be first served, 
against that of the masses. 

Any person who denies the last two propositions, and 
their sequence, is a silly dreamer, and without a grain 
of knowledge of practical politics. 

The money-lover’s part}^ however, don’t like the 
expense of the last campaign, and hence it is now sug¬ 
gesting that a new party be formed out of the Dem¬ 
ocratic-Republican ranks. Its name ought to be the 
Monopolistic Parasites, but, of course, if such a party 
were formed, its name would not indicate its aims. No 
such new party will result, however, in spite of Mr. 
Bynum’s efforts. Either the Democratic or Republican 
party will be used by the monopolists and bribe-givers. 

At the last national convention the Democratic party 
shook off the leeches of money-love and monopoly. 
The latter stole the livery of the Republicans at St. 
Louis. Monopoly, money-lovers and extortioners of 
the masses, won by the use of bribery, coercion, threats 
and appeals to prejudice instead of appeals to reason. 
No patriot will take offense at this plain statement of 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


55 


the truth. The real patriot will reflect, and act with 
those who labor to redeem the government from the 
dominion of classes and money-rule. 

How will you stop bribery? How do you stop the 
pollution of a stream, when you find the pollution begins 
at the source? You take away the cause from the 
source, don’t you? This is the way to stop bribery. 
Let the government own the franchises, and then there 
will be no money from them for bribery, because no 
individual or monopoly will have a private interest to 
subserve. There will be no necessity to invest money 
in campaigns in order to secure legislation out of which 
great fortunes can be made. The miserable lobbies of 
State Legislatures and City Councils must go out of 
business, because their business must cease, and will 
cease. 

Ex-Governor Larrabee, in his book on The Rail¬ 
road Question,” says : 

The danger from railroad corporations lies in their 
great wealth, controlled by a few persons, and the want 
of publicity in the business. With bribes wanting in 
the balance of legislative equivalents, the people could 
be entrusted to enact laws alike just to the corporations 
and public, while asserting the right of the people to 
control the public highway, and to make it subservient 
to the welfare of the many instead of the enrichment of 
the few. 

Railroad managers never do things by halves. Well 
realizing it is in the power of a fearless executive, by 
his veto, to render futile the achievements of the most 
costly lobby, and to injure or benefit the interests by 
pursuing an aggressive or conservative policy in the 
enforcement of the laws, they never fail to make their 
influence felt in the selection of a chief magistrate either 
of the nation or of an individual State. 

“No delegate with their permission ever attends a 
national convention. Republican or Democratic, if he is 


56 


THE VO TEH S X-EAYS. 


not known to favor the selection of a man as the presi¬ 
dential candidate of his party whose conservatism in all 
matters pertaining to railroad interests is well estab¬ 
lished. At these conventions the railroad companies 
are always represented, and their representatives do not 
fail nor hesitate to inform this or that candidate that he 
is not acceptable, and will not receive their support at 
the polls. 

“It is the boast of prominent railroad men that they 
elected Garfield, and the statement has been made upon 
good authority that not until a few days before election 
did the Garfield managers feel secure, and that when 
the secret history of that campaign comes to be written 
it will be seen that Jay Gould had more influence upon 
the election than Grant or Conkling. ” 

It was a joke upon a prominent and sagacious member 
of the National Republican Committee of 1884 that he 
prided himself upon a large contribution he had received 
from a rich and powerful person in the interest of 
Blaine, but after the election it was found the same 
railroad millionaire had made twice as large a contribu¬ 
tion to the managers of the Cleveland campaign. 

Nearly all the newspapers are bribed sheets. Nearly 
every editor rides on a pass, and he would be an 
ungrateful wretch if he did not serve his master. Abuse 
by newpapers of honest patriots, who wage war against 
the great wrongs monopoly inflicts upon the people, has 
become so common that much of their force has been lost 
upon thinking people. 

“During one of the sessions of the Iowa Legislature, a 
newspaper correspondent came into possession of some 
information which reflected severely on the railroad 
lobby. He made his information the subject of a spicy 
article, and showed it to a friend who stood close to the 
gentleman chiefly implicated, with the remark that 
nothing but a one hundred dollar bill would prevent the 
transmission of the article by the evening mail to the 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


57 


paper which he represented. Before sundown the price 
for the correspondent’s silence had been paid, and an 
enemy made a friend .”—The Railroad Question^ by 
Larrabee. 

Governor Larrabee’s book, and especially its chapter 
on “Railroads in Politics,” should be read by every 
American who cares to pursue the particular question 
of railroads more in detail. 

Every device of law to prevent bribery has proven a 
failure. There is but one way to prevent bribery : 
Stop the business of the bribe-givers. Destroy monopo¬ 
lies, the great and prolific source of corruption funds, 
and bribery will fall therewith. 

This republic cannot long withstand the assaults of 
the bribe-giver and bribe-taker. The bribe-giver expects 
and requires as a condition of his gift that he shall get 
back his money increased a hundredfold by special 
favors. This • cannot be accomplished save only b}^ 
legislation which plunders the masses for the benefit of 
the few. The sequence is, the plundering concen¬ 
trates wealth ; the few become richer, and the many 
poorer. 

The army of bribe-receivers is enlarged. Rome fell 
as a republic when bribery controlled her elections. 
Afterwards the bonuses to the army insured the Emperor 
a lease of power. The bonuses of monopolies to the 
army of bribe-takers in these United States insure to 
monopolies, as the real emperors of America, a lease of 
power. 

Money, you all-powerful god of this republic, if your 
temples are not purified and your fortress not bombarded 
and captured by men and principle, the sin will never 
be upon my conscience and soul. 

So notoriously dangerous has bribery become, that the 


58 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


United States Senate proposes to investigate, as the 
following resolution indicates : 

Resolved, That a committee of nine Senators be elected 
by the Senate to constitute a committee on the use of 
money in elections, and that said committee be instructed 
to thoroughly investigate the extent to which money, if 
any, was used in connection with the recent presidential 
election, either in promoting the nominations or in 
influencing in any manner the choice of presidential 
electors, and to inquire whether or not any such expendi¬ 
tures were excessive, illegitimate, corrupt or unlawful, 
and especially to inquire and ascertain to what extent 
for such purposes the owners of silver mines, gold 
mines, the bankers, the manufacturers, the railroads or 
other corporations and millionaires of all classes made 
contributions, and what contributions, if any, were made 
by persons and corporations residing abroad, and to 
report to the Senate all the facts, and whether or not, in 
the opinion of the committee, any legislation by Congress 
is expedient and necessary to lessen or prevent the use 
of money in elections. .Said committee shall have power 
to act by full or sub-committees, to send for persons and 
papers, and sit during the present session of Congress 
and until the first Monday of December, A. D. 1897, the 
expenses thereof to be paid out of the contingent fund 
of the Senate .”—See Vol. 2g Congressional Record, pages 
164-16^. 

This resolution was introduced by Senator Allen, on 
Dec. 15, 1896, and, if passed, the outcome of the conse¬ 
quent investigation will be exceedingly interesting. We 
may be informed as to how the tremendous gains in 
voting strength was made in the pivotal States in 1896. 




THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


59 


VII. THE PRINCIPLES. 

H e in whose breast there beats a patriotic heart must 
feel a deep and profound interest in the purity of 
that government under which he finds it his lot to 
live. To have a happy being under a government, 
one should be well-versed in its basic and underlying 
principles. The person who knows no more than “such 
is the decree of the government, and, therefore, I obey,” 
has certainly the haunts of dark ignorance ever about 
him. Ignorance of basic governmental principles leads 
to blind and groping political action. 

Ignorant votes by citizens in a government in which 
the right to vote exists, are but the counterparts of 
ignorance of these fundamental principles. A ballot 
deposited by one thus ignorant is a stroke by chance : if 
it is right, then be it so ; if it is wrong, it is all the 
same. The man who walks to the polls and votes for 
candidates without knowing the principles he wishes his 
ballot to represent, is like the man who sets poison, only 
to return in an oblivious moment and swallow it, thus 
bringing about his own destruction. The voter should 
have a well-established and determined idea of what he 
wishes to accomplish by his vote. This he cannot have 
unless he has a well-grounded knowledge of established 
principles. 

The Romans compared the state to a vessel; hence 
the term gubernator, or helmsman, for a leader or actual 
ruler of a state. From the Latin this has passed into 
most of the European languages. Government, then, 
would seem to be the rules or principles by which the 
gubernatorj i. <?., the helmsman, controls the vessel— 


6o 


THE VO TEH S X-RAYS. 


‘'the ship of state.” We ma}^ therefore, simplify the 
complex idea of government by saying that it is the 
rules or principles of action which are necessary to 
enable man to live in a social state, or which are made 
by or imposed upon people forming a state. 

Man is by nature a social creature. He was never 
created for living alone. His wants make him depend¬ 
ent. His fears lead him to self-protection. These two 
elements may be considered the primitive causes of the 
formation of society. Banish these, and j^ou also 
banish the absolute necessity for society. Man without 
want would be a self-reliant and purely independent 
creature, and, like the beasts of the forest, he would be 
able to supply all his wants. If he had no fear, he 
would have no need of protection. Then wherein 
would consist the use of society? Society is the result 
of the wants and needs of man, and this society consti¬ 
tutes the “ ship of state,” and the principles or rules 
embodied in laws, which we call government, are indis¬ 
pensable to guide, to preserve, and navigate the ‘*ship 
of state.” 

I. The principle is equality rightly understood. 

Allow me to add at the threshold of my remarks on 
this principle, I speak only as it pertains to matters 
of government, and in no way state or imply anything 
relative to social matters. It is only the demagogue 
and the advocate of agrarianism who would seek to 
banish and destroy all distinctions of societ)^ aris¬ 
ing from any cause whatever. It is such cancers as 
these on the body politic that would bring every¬ 
thing in the state to a common and allotted level. 
Such schemes are wild, unjust and unpracticable. No 
one who will calmly and dispassionately reflect upon 
such illusory schemes will seriously advocate them. 


THE VOTERS X-RAYS, 


6i 


They are bold strokes at well-founded principles, and we 
will consider them as we advance. 

I state that the principle is equality rightly under¬ 
stood. What, then, do we understand by equality? I 
would suggest an equal division of rights, burdens, 
privileges, advantages and assumptions. 

A government should have certain well-established 
and well-defined rights to which individuals living under 
it are entitled, and which they can of right demand. 

These rights should be general and universal, so that 
the highest and lowest citizen can stand on the same 
level with respect to such rights, and be equally 
entitled to them. Rights emanating from the govern¬ 
ment should be such that the man who “ drinks the cup 
of poverty to its dregs ” may have the same peaceful 
possession of such rights as the man who possesses 
untold millions. 

So the burdens of the government should be equally 
distributed among the individuals. No man should be 
obliged by his government to take upon himself any 
greater burden than in justice and equality and of right 
he should bear. On the other hand, no one has the 
right to shirk his just share of the burdens. A govern¬ 
ment never more deserves the blessing of God than 
when all its taxes, duties, imposts or demands are 
equally distributed—not according to numbers, but 
according to ability to bear the burdens. In order to 
carry out the principle of equality in respect to burdens, 
those on whom falls the duty of devising the schemes 
must take into consideration the relative ability of indi¬ 
viduals, and must frame their laws by this standard. 
Each should be compelled to give according as he hath. 

As there should be equality of rights and burdens, so 
there should be equality of privileges, advantages and 


62 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


particular exemptions. If a government persists in 
granting to a chosen few certain royal privileges, it can¬ 
not long continue without an attack from the many. 
If there are privileges, they should be general. If there 
are advantages to be had, they should be general. If 
there are exemptions, they should be justly distributed. 

Suppose the government exempt a certain class of 
property of A. from duties, but not that of any other 
individual ; this would be a plain and palpable viola¬ 
tion of the law of equality^ If a government should so 
frame its laws as to compel a certain portion of the 
community to pay a tax and not the other, this would 
be a plain violation of the principle of equality If the 
government should devise such schemes in the way of 
raising revenue as would heavily tax one class of citi¬ 
zens and enrich another class, no one will dare say this 
is not a violation of the law of equality. All such 
schemes do, directly or indirectly, give to one person or 
class a privilege, advantage or exemption, while to 
another it is denied. 

If a government would dry up the flood-tide of com¬ 
plaints, hush the voice of lamentable bickering, and 
instill in each of its individual members a heart-burning 
loyalty, it must firmly establish equality of rights, 
equality of burdens, equality of privileges, advantages 
and exemptions. No government that would sit under 
the smiles of prosperity and reap the rich harvests of 
individual happiness and contentment, can afford to 
persistently violate this great basic principle. A 
government which persists in violating this principle 
will be banished from the face of the earth. It is not 
fit to govern the gloomy regions of perdition and their 
myriad hosts of infernal beings. Among the facts 
called “ self-evident truths ” in that time-lasting docu- 


rilE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 63 

ment the Declaration of Independence, you find that 
all men are created equal.” 

How much truth there is in this one sentence. 
Mr. Jefferson was fully cognizant of the truths 
advanced in the foregoing remarks. All who would 
have a government of justice or equity, must be cogniz¬ 
ant of them. All who love to see their government 
advancing to the front rank among the nations of the 
world must be cognizant of them. All who wish to 
realize absolute security of their persons, their liberty 
and their property, must be cognizant of them. All 
who love their country must be cognizant of them. But 
merely to know these truths—truths worthy of being 
engraved on monuments of gold—is not sufficient. 
There must be an acting upon them, and this, too, 
without halting fear or undecided retraction. 

2. A principle of good government is unity. 

An old adage says, In union there is strength 
‘‘United we stand, divided we fall.” These truths 
suggest to the mind an array of useful lessons for those 
who seek to establish a government founded upon well- 
established principles. If strength consists in union, 
then every government should strive to increase in 
unity. If in mechanics there are several forces, each 
pulling in opposite directions, the force of the one will 
neutralize that of the other, and the logical result must 
be weakness, or misspent force, or waste of strength. 
In governmental affairs, if there are numerous factions 
each possessing qertain strength, and these rival 
factions are prone to oppose each other in all their 
projects, there will be corresponding weakness. Let 
these factions unite, and there will be found increase of 
strength. A government made up of contending fac- 


64 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


tions, possessing clashing interests and rival hopes, 
cannot long continue. 

The organism of a government should be harmonious. 
Its parts should move without friction. It should be 
able to furnish of its innate source proper lubricating 
substance. 

Wheel should turn within wheel, and cog fit within 
cogs; thus will unity be secured, and strength remain 
intact. One has said that “unity is the palladium of 
our political safety and prosperity.” The absolute 
verity of this is seen when we reflect upon the fact that 
without it no household, no nation and no government 
can long continue its existence. 

But how is a government to secure unity? One way 
that suggests itself is to curb party spirit. If in a gov¬ 
ernment party spirit runs high, and everything, good, 
bad or indifferent is made subservient to it, there can 
be no such active principle as unity. There should be 
a boundary to the extent of this spirit. This boundary 
should be made where unity begins, and no individual 
should ever think of transgressing it. This will require 
that a party make a sacrifice in order to preserve intact 
the principle of unity. Absolute agreement of parties 
is not sought. Such is impossible. But there can be a 
boundary to the rancorous spirit sometimes manifested 
in governments, which, like David Copperfield’s old 
aunt, “will break before she will bend.” It is but 
sheer folly for men to establish governments, and then 
each individual, each party and state set up its own 
iron will as imperative, as unbreakable as the laws of 
the Medes and Persians. If such an iron will is shown, 
with a stubborn determination to carry it into full effect 
despite all consequences to the government, then there 
is but little hope for unity and political prosperity. 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


6S 


When such a state of things is imminent—when govern¬ 
ment is thus endangered—it strikes me that the wise 
course, the judicious course is to surrender this will, 
and give up to that which will not destroy. Common 
prudence dictates such a course. The national flag of 
a government hangs over a wide-open grave when this 
stubborn iron will is disposed and resolved to make or 
break. 

If a government has not unity, then there certainly 
cannot be individual happiness, for how can a govern¬ 
ment insure peace and happiness to individuals, when 
it is under the severe and rending strokes of internal 
turmoil? How can there be peace and happiness among 
individuals when there is not such at the head, i. e.^ 
the government? If individuals are in continual strife 
with their government, they will be in strife among 
themselves. This is the sequence of the violation of 
the principle of unity. 

Unity in the government can only be the result of 
individual efforts to secure it. The government will be 
what the individuals of which it is composed choose to 
make it. This is so because all governments, rightly 
established, are indebted to proper individuals for all the 
legitimate powers possessed by such governments. In 
other words, the people are the source of all govern¬ 
mental powers legitimately possessed. If the people are 
not united upon the various schemes of government, then 
there cannot be unity in the government. Every 
scheme devised by the government will be subject to 
continual attack from those who do not agree with the 
party devising it. It results, then, that you cannot 
force and coerce individuals living under a government 
into unity. As man has a free will, a discriminating 
choice, he seems to be determined to exercise it in this 


66 


THE VOTER'S X^RAVS. 


respect as in any other. The only way in which to 
obtain unity is, as above stated, to have each person 
partaking of the blessings of civil government use every 
laudable means and every just effort to heed this noble 
principle and practice. To make this effort, it is only 
necessary that each person should do what he is called 
upon to do in every other department of life ; that is, 
to make mutual concessions, sacrifices and compro¬ 
mises. We to-day would not be enjoying the blessings of 
the constitutional government we have, had not the wise 
and patriotic statesmen who framed that Constitution 
made concessions, sacrifices and compromises. True it 
is that in order to make these we will be called upon to 
put down selfish motives. 

Then let those who would have government upon 
principle endeavor, in every case in which opportunity 
offers itself, to put principle into practice ; and thus 
will be established one of the most essential principles 
of government, destined to bring to the individual hap¬ 
piness and the rich blessings of peace and prosperity. 
Thus, too, will the individual be brought to realize that 
in unity there is strength, and that strong, united hearts 
make a strong and impregnable government. Thus, 
too, will other governments be taught, by the most 
powerful object lessons, that they need not set covetous 
eyes upon a nation whose fundamental principle is 
unity. Thus, too, will those who are subsequently to 
live under the government learn to respect, and ever to 
execute, the principle of unity. 

3. There should be a govermnent for the whole. 

This principle demands that, in forming a govern¬ 
ment, the whole of that which is to be governed should 
be taken into consideration. The objects of the gov¬ 
ernment are all to be included. The various interests 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


67 


are all to be respected and duly protected. It suggests 
the idea of intimate relationship of different interests in 
the government. It also demands that the government 
should be general in its object that it should be far- 
reaching in all of its efforts to govern well. 

We are also to consider that in its effort to govern 
well, the government should go out to the remotest 
territory over which it is supreme. In doing this it 
should always endeavor to subserve every interest, and 
yet protect the whole from injury. It should advance 
the interests of all without opposing those of any one 
in particular. The whole of everything governed should 
receive, first, attention at the hands of the government, 
and then, if a part can be protected and fostered without 
injury to the whole, there can be no objection to direct¬ 
ing attention to that part. No particular class should 
be favored at the expense of the whole. This would 
be, as we have seen, a violation of the principle of 
equality, as well as a violation of the principle which 
requires a government for the whole. A government 
has no right to govern one part of its people in one 
particular way, and the other part in another way. All 
class legislation which unequally confers rights, or 
strips of privileges, grossly violates the principle which 
requires a government for the whole—a holy govern¬ 
ment. 

In order to avoid such violation, let those whom we 
call to govern us be careful never to lose sight of the 
whole of that which is to be governed. If a man make 
a machine, he prescribes the rules to govern every part 
of that machine. If it is a clock, he does not make a 
rule for the movement of its hands, and none for the 
pendulum. One without the other would be utterly 
useless. While one part of the government may be in 


68 


THE VOTER'S X-KAYS. 


motion for some time without the other wheels revolv¬ 
ing, this cannot last for a long time, and then every 
wheel in the machine will cease its revolutions. Hence 
it is necessary that the v/hole machine receive attention 
in order to keep it in perfect working tune. And so a 
government must consider itself established for the pur¬ 
pose of governing the whole of its objects, and this 
without any insidious discriminations between parts. 
Therefore, let a government be as broad and compre¬ 
hensible in its general scope as that which is governed 
is broad and comprehensive. This is a safe rule and 
must be unflinchingly applied by every government 
which styles itself a government upon principle. 

4. There should be no injurious alliance between parts. 

The principle immediately preceding this is a counter¬ 
part of the one we are now to consider. If there is 
anything which tends to subvert government it is 
unprincipled leagues, alliances and confederacies. If 
numerous parts of the government—composed of fac¬ 
tious individuals—set about waging on the state imprac¬ 
ticable policies, it will require a vast amount of energy 
in the government to overthrow them. This is neces¬ 
sarily spent, and yet unprofitably. The only gain is 
that the government is maintained intact. But it is 
very much set back. Its necessary progress is arrested 
to the extent of its wasted energy. These unprincipled 
confederacies have much the same effect upon the gov¬ 
ernment that sickness has upon an animal. Their only 
possible use is that they may teach some lessons of 
wisdom to the government. They tend to make the 
government experienced. But they are lessons and 
experience most dearly purchased. 

Every individual who has the welfare of, his country 
at heart should have most cogent reasons, and most 


THE FOTEE’S X-RAYS. 


69 


persuasive evidence, to induce him ever to lift a hand 
against the well-defined policy of his government. 
Political parties are indispensable to good government. 
But a political party is quite a different affair from a 
factious alliance. Political parties are composed of 
men united together by reason of holding similar 
opinions on given questions and issues. But alliances 
may be, and generally are, a collection of special 
interests working in the ranks of all parties. A political 
party has, or ought to have, at heart the welfare of the 
people and the continuance of the government. An 
unprincipled alliance aims sometimes at its destruc¬ 
tion, if necessary to accomplish the ends of the alliance. 
The monopoly leagues, alliances and confederacies 
are breeders of factions. 

5. A government should avoid an overgrown military 
establishment. 

This principle carries with it an abundance of reasons. 
No one, who knows anything of the power with which 
the military is clothed, will for a momeiit contend that 
the military body in a government should be large. It 
is dangerous to liberty. Liberty is above all other 
blessings secured by government to society. Without 
it citizenship in any government is not worth the name. 
All governments should strive to preserve the liberty of 
the citizen. All laws which in any way tend unneces¬ 
sarily to restrain the citizen ought to be stricken from 
the pages of the statute-books. There should be well- 
established remedies for illegal confinement. These 
remedies should be easy to understand, and readily 
accessible to all having occasion to use them. 

Thus, liberty being of such incalculable value, if 
there were no other reasons for avoiding an overgrown 
military establishment, this one would suffice. But let 


70 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


US consider another reason. Tlie military class- will 
increase that class which increases under all govern¬ 
ments—I mean the non-producing class. While this 
clasjs is an inseparable incident to all organized socie¬ 
ties, it is a burden upon the producing class. 

The life of, the soldier is inconsistent with the life of 
the citizen. This should not be, but invariably this is 
the case. Let a man join the arm}'’, and tliereby become 
a part of the military, and after some years’ experience 
his habits are newly moulded. He seems to be unfitted 
for continual industry and good citizenship. He is like 
an officeholder. Having become accustomed to look to 
others for support, he continues this expectation. He 
acts upon the principle that the world owes him a living 
without any effort on his part. He folds his arms to his 
throbbing breast and waits for charity to fill his lapwnth 
dispensable luxuries. Thus he becomes an idler, and 
in many cases a criminal vagabond. Such a class is a 
great burden upon society. Not only so, but it is a 
most dangerous element to the state. It ceases to 
appreciate the benefits of, and thus loses its interest 
in its continuance. A review of the overthrow of the 
Roman republic will justify these assertions. 

Again, an overgrown military establishment may be 
used by the executive of the government as a most 
powerful engine of oppression. If a government should 
be so unfortunate as to be subject to a tyrannical execu¬ 
tive officer, and he sought oppression of his people, a 
large body of soldiers would be most convenient for 
such a purpose. The military of a state is always used 
to carry out measures of the government, and not to 
oppose them. It is the people who are oppressed, who 
leave the plow, the forge, the work-shop and the count¬ 
ing-room, and turn soldiers to resist the enforcement of 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


71 


the unjust measures of the government, and turn 
soldiers to resist such unjust measures sought to be 
accomplished by the use of a standing army. A gov¬ 
ernment should, therefore, guard the growth of the 
military with a watchful and jealous eye, unless it should 
disproportionately swell in numbers and increase in 
power. This must be done, or the government will 
violate this principle, and suffer the full benefit of its 
want of vigilance—it will reap the fruits of what it has 
sown, and garner a most unprofitable harvest. 

But, in order not to violate this principle, the govern¬ 
ment must keep and maintain, ready for instant use and 
thoroughly equipped for instant action, a military of 
due size. The necessity for this is apparent upon the 
slightest reflection. The man who would defend him¬ 
self from unjust and illegal assaults must have at hand 
the means of defense. So a nation that would not be 
the humiliated and cringing dupe of other nations must 
have the means of effectively resisting attacks, and 
making aggressions where dignity and right demand. 
This should extend to a force upon land and sea, for the 
majesty of a nation should be as peremptorily asserted 
on water as upon land. In order, too, that a govern¬ 
ment may duly protect the coast of its territory, there 
should be a strong naval force under the military 
establishment. To live in peace, a government should 
have under its control a sufficient military. This 
sufficiency must be determined by a variety of circum¬ 
stances. Among these are the friendly or unfriendly 
relations which it sustains toward other governments, 
its extent of territory, easy or difficult access of attack, 
a'nd the internal condition of individuals as to their 
contentment, happiness and satisfaction with the gov¬ 
ernment. 


72 


THE VO TEE'S X-RAYS. 


I cannot better close my comments upon this prin¬ 
ciple of good government than by giving the words of 
an elegant and polished writer : 

“ In a land of liberty it is extremely dangerous to 
make a distinct order of the profession of arms. In 
absolute monarchies this is necessary for the safety of 
the prince, and arises from the main principle of their 
constitution, which is that of governing by fear ; but, 
in free states, the profession of a soldier, taken singly 
and merely as a profession, is merely an object of 
jealousy. In these no man should take up arms but 
with a view to defend his country and laws ; he puts off 
the citizen when he enters the camp ; but it is because 
he is a citizen, and wishes to so continue, that he 
chooses to make a soldier of himself for awhile.” 

6. Respect for authority. 

In every government there must be supreme author¬ 
ity. This authority is lodged where the people making 
the government choose to lodge it. But when once 
they have made their choice, and have clothed a body 
with authority, it behooves all persons living under a 
government to give it due respect. This principle is 
not confined to such authority as is supreme, but ex¬ 
tends to all authority willingly delegated and rightfull}^ 
possessed. Thus, while the individual should have due 
respect for the chief executive of a government, he 
should also have due respect for the inferior magistrate, 
or rather the authority with which he is clothed. It is 
as absolutely indispensable in the one case as in the 
other. The want of it in either case tends to subvert 
the government under which it occurs. The only dif¬ 
ference is that in one case it is more notorious than in 
the other. 

No person who has a just appreciation of the innumer¬ 
able benefits derived from government and civilization 


THE VOTERSS X-RAYS. 


73 


will have the courage or audacity to say that there can 
long be a government where contempt and disrespect of 
authority are tolerated with impunity. That there must 
be due respect for authority rightfully held and pos¬ 
sessed is self-evident, if good and peaceable government 
is desired. 

But authority, to be respected, must be respectable in 
itself. In order to be so, it must, in the first place, be 
properly bestowed. If it has been usurped, and thereby 
unlawfully held, then no one can render it due respect. 
Suppose an officer under a government claims to have 
authority and power to decide disputes between indi¬ 
viduals, and actually exercises such authority. You 
know he is not clothed with such an authority—that he 
is an usurper. Then you cannot respect such authority. 
You would only be driven to treat the claimant and the 
authority with disrespect, and even open de fiance. In 
the second place, it must be authority held and exer¬ 
cised de jure. Let authority be justly bestowed and 
exercised by power of right, yet, if there is not a sure 
and unflinching foundation in the nature of things, it 
will not be respected. Nay, the government, in view of 
the principle under consideration, has no right to 
demand such respect, unless the authority sought to be 
exercised is of right. 

7. There should be a compliance with law. 

Every government makes rules of action in order to 
govern its citizens. These laws, when made by the 
proper authority and in due form of law, are binding 
upon every one living under the government. They are, 
however, to conform to two things, viz.: the Constitu¬ 
tion, and this whether written or unwritten; and, 
secondly, they must not contravene divine laws. The 
Constitution prescribes a limit beyond which the law- 


74 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS, 


n^aking power cannot go. If it should transgress these 
prescribed bounds, then the law so written is entirely 
void, and, by consequence, of no binding force upon 
the citizen. It may, with impunity, be set at naught, 
and when one is called upon to answer for a breach, he 
has only to plead in justification or in bar the uncon¬ 
stitutionality of the law which it is alleged he has 
infringed. It then becomes the duty of the tribunal 
before which one is taken to refrain from punishing the 
alleged offender. 

So, if a law is made which contravenes some plain 
divine injunction, this law is of no more binding force 
in conscience than is the unconstitutional law in the 
civil forum. If, to illustrate, the sovereign power should 
command one to commit murder, no one would for a 
moment presume to obey such a law. Every one would 
instinctively acknowledge that such a law was in itself 
absolutely void, and, by consequence, of no binding 
force upon those to whom it is directed, or upon those 
whose action and government it seeks to control. 

If, then, the laws are valid and obligatory upon the 
citizen, he has no right to refuse compliance with them, 
unless he would violate the principle of government 
which requires an uncompromising compliance with the 
law. This compliance should be as general and uni¬ 
versal as the laws are themselves general and universal. 
The principle of equality requires that every citizen of 
the government should be held to such a compliance. 
The government should exact as rigid a compliance 
from one quarter as from another. There should be no 
inequitable sorting of those who shall render full com¬ 
pliance. None should be too big, none too little fish 
for the drag-net of the law. 

Let us add a word as to the effect of non-compliance : 


THE VOTER'S X-RA VS, 


75 


If disrespect and contempt of authority will subvert the 
aims of government and overturn its established ends, 
how much more effectively can the same end be accom¬ 
plished by a non-compliance with the valid laws of the 
government? The laws constitute the evidence of author- 
it}^ and the blows against law are direct blows against 
authorit}^ The consequences of contempt of authority 
will follow much more quickly from an uncompromising 
violation and sullen non-compliance with the laws 
enacted and recognized as the valid and binding 
rules of the action of every individual living under and 
subject to governmental authority. Take away law, 
and its obligatory force, and the government, the ship 
of state, is at sea, amid the lashing of waves and 
white-capped billows, plunging into the foaming surf 
without chart or compass. As the seamen or the 
passengers who would in such a perilous time throw 
away the chart and compass must be the sufferers, and 
face the wide-open jaws of grim old death, so those 
living under the government, who defy authority and 
set at naught rules of action, must be the greatest 
sufferers for their foolish conduct. They seek revenge, 
and obtain its gratification upon their own offending 
persons. Let, then, no good or loyal-hearted citizen 
by word or action manifest any disposition of non- 
compliance with valid and obligatory laws. “All 
things,” says Montesquieu, “should be done in com¬ 
pliance with the law.” 

8. There should be acquiescence in measures. 

This principle is of close akin to the two preceding. 
Measures of the government are the result of policies 
adopted under the law. These should be legal, and 
made in furtherance of the demands of the law. The 
measures adopted by the government should always 


76 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


have in view the promotion of the public good—the 
public welfare and happiness of all citizens. All 
measures should be founded upon the principle of the 
greatest good to the greatest number. The difficulty in 
devising measures will be found in determining what 
is the greatest good ; but let those who are in the gov¬ 
ernment to devise these measures study them for the 
purpose of such good, and never with an intention of 
merely obtaining or subserving special interests. Let 
the measure be ever so unpopular—let ever so much 
scorn be cast upon the government on account of the 
measures adopted, but if they are destined to increase 
and advance the public welfare, and to have beneficent 
results to society, then the government should never 
slacken or abate its efforts to secure and compel acquies¬ 
cence. This requires firmness in the government and 
disregard, in so far as personal favor is concerned or 
private aggrandizement may be involved. 

Measures to be acquiesced in should emanate from 
the proper authority. This authority should, as a mat¬ 
ter of course, be such as is legally empowered to devise 
such measures. A government should compel citizens 
to obey and acquiesce in measures. 

They must also be such as are not repugnant to the 
theory of government under which they are devised. 
Thus measures which, under a monarchy, would be 
upheld and applauded, would, under a free government 
of the people, be treated as subversive of their most 
precious rights. For instance, under a monarchy 
measures to take away the right of suffrage from all 
except those possessing a certain amount of property 
would be acquiesced in, and by all a peaceful submission 
rendered ; while, under a free government of the people, 
democratic in its theories, such measures would be 


THE VO TEE'S X-EAVS. 


77 


deemed as depriving the people of their well-secured 
liberties. 

So measures to be acquiesced in must be consistent 
with the circumstances of the people under the govern¬ 
ment. A measure which would be heartily approved 
and lauded to the skies in prosperous times, would be 
deemed oppressive and tyrannical in a time when the 
people feel “the hungry tiger of cruel poverty crouch¬ 
ing about them.” Measures should be such as emanate 
from the proper authority, and dovetailed with the times 
and circumstances of the government under which they 
are devised. 

The baneful effects of want of respect for authority 
and non-compliance with law, will follow a neglect or 
refusal to acquiesce in measures devised by the govern¬ 
ment. Let every man, woman and child whose lot it is 
to live under a government, determine to submit to its 
schemes so long as such schemes have in themselves 
no notice or forerunner of great inconvenience to the 
individual, or of special advantage to particular interests. 

9. A right to alter the constitution. 

This principle implies that every government has a 
constitution, either written or unwritten, by which 
even sovereignty is restrained, and has accorded to it 
certain bounds beyond which it may not go. In some 
governments this constitution is an enactment of the 
people to be governed, as much as a statute is an 
enactment of those to whom the power to enact laws is 
delegated by the people to be governed by the laws so 
made; while in others this constitution consists only of 
principles handed down and recognized by successive 
generations as the fundamental and basic law of the 
land, and to which all legislation must conform. These 
constitutions are composed of the highest principles 


78 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


which can regulate the conduct of man, the noblest of 
all organized beings, endowed with free will and reason. 
The origin of such constitutions is coeval with society, 
and inseparable from its institution and existence. 

But these constitutions must be adapted to the 
circumstances of the individuals living under a govern¬ 
ment. It must be a rule to regulate the condition of 
society in the present and according to its organized 
theories. We are only considering, however, the right 
to alter constitutions founded upon good principles. 
This right is based upon necessity. As there will be 
material progress under a government, of whatever 
form—as times will change and new ideas develop—as 
there will be new and more complicated relations 
formed by one government with another—as there 
will be novel inventions, and consequent new rights de¬ 
manded, it is apparent that there will arise the necessity 
for a change in the constitution. As- people, who are 
the subjects of a government, seek new avenues for a 
livelihood, there must in consequence be new rules to 
govern them. New principles of right will as a matter 
of course arise, clashing with and running counter to 
the old ones, and hence the only possible escape is to 
change the old, or rather substitute the new. 

The people under a government have, too, the 
undisputed right to change that government, whenever 
the majority shall determine that such a change is for 
the benefit of society. 

When they decree that there shall be greater progress 
of all industries, and better and more wholesome gov¬ 
ernment wrought through a change, then they have the 
right to bring about such a change in the most speedy 
manner consistent with due protection to all interests 
concerned, and without unnecessary deprivation of 


THE VOTER'S X’RAVS. 


79 


rights involved. If it should be found that the con¬ 
stitution under which a government is working gives it 
a retrograding instead of an advancing motive, then the 
sooner there is made a valid alteration in that constitu¬ 
tion the better it will be for all interests which that 
constitution regulates. No sane person can for a 
moment claim that a government should continue in a 
downward course. If, then, it should be found that a 
government is not advancing and gaining the progress 
which its standing’ demands, and which it of right 
should make, let it set about to ascertain the cause of 
the sad effect. If it should find that the cause is a 
defect in its constitution, then let the constitution be 
altered and amended in such manner as will dispel all 
infelicitous consequences. If there has been a prin¬ 
ciple inculcated which works the injury, let the govern¬ 
ment, with dignity and decision, strike out such a prin¬ 
ciple from its organic law. If, on the other hand, a 
principle has been disregarded and neglected which 
would work to the interest of the government, then, 
with equal promptness, let the government insert and 
establish such principle. The people are the govern¬ 
ment in the United States, at least in theory. 

The necessity for a right to alter the constitution is 
still more apparent when we consider that if we do not 
alter we must continue in our course of government 
from bad to worse. Instead of building up and advanc¬ 
ing all interests under the government, we would be 
oppressing and retrograding, and this without the power 
of redress. We would thus place upon coming gen¬ 
erations a wrong of which the reparation is impossible. 
We would in effect say to them : “ We set you on the 

downward course, and thus shall you proceed.” No 
one will contend for the justice or absolute right of such 


8 o 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


a course, and hence all must admit that the right to 
alter the constitution is a principle of good government. 
It is an indispensable principle, the want of which 
would subject the government to overthrow, and prob¬ 
ably place in its stead anarchy and all its horrors. 

I will here take the liberty of adding a few words 
uttered by him who earned the title, “The Father of 
his Country.” “In all changes,” he says, “to which 
you may be invited, remember that time and habit are 
at least as necessary to fix the true character of govern¬ 
ments as of other human institutions ; that experience 
is the real standard by which to test the real tendency 
of the existing Constitution of the country ; that facility 
in the changes upon mere hypothesis and opinion 
exposes to perpetual change upon endless variety of 
hypothesis and opinion.” 

Considering the weight of authority here adduced, it 
is seen that care and caution should be used in 
determining upon a change in the constitution. In 
fine, it should be determined from information gained 
from every source possible and soundest judgment 
exercised upon such information, that a change is an 
absolute necessity, and indispensable to promote the 
public welfare and insure domestic tranquility. 

The sentiment of Montesquieu, as to when a repug¬ 
nance to a change of law is reasonable, may be quoted 
with approval as applicable to the subject of an altera¬ 
tion in the constitution. It is as follows : 

“When the laws of a country approach so near per¬ 
fection and justice, and the abuses are so trifling that 
no sensible advantage could be expected from a change, 
the repugnance to change is reasonable. When there 
\s no certain principle by which we might direct 
ourselves in security to the establishment of new laws, 
then repugnance to the laws is unreasonable.” 


THE FOTEE’S X-RAYS. 


8 l 


10. There should be 7 io entangling alliances with foreign 
countries. 

The avenues to foreign influence should be shut up. 
This principle expresses the sentiment that a nation 
should keep its own counsel. A government ought to 
so frame its policy with respect to foreign governments 
as not to intertwine it with them. Such a policy should 
be adopted by a government as will enable it to deal 
with another government without becoming entangled 
in the affairs of the latter. 

A government should have certain well-defined pur¬ 
poses in view, and should endeavor to accomplish these 
alone and single-handed without forming any alliance 
with others. If it cannot accomplish them without such 
alliance, then it is better it should not accomplish them. 
A good rule would seem to be : Do what you can with 
your own hands. 

No one can predict what will be the result of an 
entanglement between two governments. Nay, it may 
happen that there can be no extricating of the one 
without a vastly expensive and devastating war, with all 
its anguish, misery and horrors. Or, to avoid such war, 
a government may be compelled to pay large sums of 
money, thus taxing and burdening the people under it, 
or else to run into a vast public debt. This, in a free 
country, should be sacredly avoided, and, if not avoided, 
paid as speedily as means of extinguishment can be had. 
Upon principle a public debt is a public curse. 

If a government would shut up the avenues of foreign 
influence, it must avoid entangling alliances. Foreign 
influence upon a government is baneful and injurious. 

“It is to ourselves we must look for strength. The 
nation that only exists by the assistance of others is 
not born to live.’^— Kossuth. 


82 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


We may here recount some of the means, or rather 
the avenues of foreign influence. First: The acqui¬ 
sition of territory by foreigners. Power is ever the con¬ 
comitant of property. Power in the latter case is only 
another name for influence. If property is held, then 
there grow out of it rights which the owner can demand 
of the government under which the property is held. If 
rights can be demanded, then the means of securing and 
obtaining these can be used by those to whom they are 
due. Through the use of these means will a great 
influence be felt in every department of the govern¬ 
ment. Then there' is the interest which citizens feel 
in property held by foreigners. Such interest leads to 
cringing submission to the terms and demands of the 
foreign possessors. The mercenary spirit prevails. The 
possessor, of course, has an interest, but he will 
endeavor to have every other interest subserve his, and 
this interest will not be any more extensive for the gov¬ 
ernment than is necessary for him to maintain his prop¬ 
erty rights. 

In the second place is a mixed citizenship. By this I 
mean, where people are resident under a government, 
but not legal citizens either of the one under which they 
are resident, or the one from which they hail. Persons 
who are suffered to reside for a long time in a country 
without the duties and responsibilities of a full-fledged 
citizen, and without owing anything but a local allegi¬ 
ance, are sure to exercise a foreign influence. Mixed 
citizenship begets but half-hearted allegiance. If there 
is but half-hearted allegiance, then there can be but a 
measured influence in favor of such a government. A 
government should require a total renunciation of the 
rights, privileges and love of foreign governments before 


THE VOTER'S X’RAYS. 83 

suffering foreigners to have any influence in the govern¬ 
ment under which they reside. 

Thirdly: The officials of a government should be 
closely and peremptorily guarded against the receiving 
of any kind of present from any foreign power. If one 
accepts a present, he will feel under obligations to the 
donor. When such donor asks a favor, one can hardly 
think of refusing to grant it. This holds good among 
officials the same as in private affairs. Such a gift is a 
bribe, under the respectable garb of a liberal donation. 

Fourthly : One nation should not become too friendly 
with another nation. As one friend will exercise influ¬ 
ence over another, so will the government that is on 
exceedingly friendly terms with another mysteriously 
and unconsciously influence the action of the other. 

Fifthly : One government should be careful as to how 
it receives aid and assistance from another. This is 
very important, for one government may overturn 
another by use of such means. They will appeal from 
the government to the individual for a return of favors, 
and thus will the individual lose all respect for his own 
government and its laws. Such a state, we have seen, 
would lead to all the detestable evil of want of com¬ 
pliance with authority and acquiescence in measures. 
Let a government, therefore, scrutinize and well weigh, 
and carefully consider the conduct of another govern¬ 
ment toward it. Let it close and bar every avenue 
through which there may be a possible entrance of 
foreign influence. 

11 . There should be 710 seciio/ial or geographical divisions 
Binder the gover 7 i 77 ient. 

As there should be a government of the whole, so the 
government should be whole and coextensive with the 
boundaries of its territories. It should not provide one 


84 


THE VOTER'S X‘EAYS. 


kind of government for the people of one section, and 
another for the people of a different section. In the 
governmental eye there should be nothing but the 
boundary lines,, and these should be well defined. 
Within this scope the government ought to be able to 
protect every one in interest, and to do impartial justice 
to all. There should not be any sectional discrimina¬ 
tions. 

If there should happen to be sections in which inter¬ 
ests are radically different, let each make sacrifices and 
necessary compromises, so as to do away with the 
painful cry of sectionalism. In doing this, a pure love 
for one’s country, and the continuance of a government 
to which unfaltering loyalty is rendered, is manifested. 
Thus, too, would a source of trouble and anxiety be 
effectually cut off, and peace and harmony reign supreme 
where internal turmoil and dissensions might otherv/ise 
hold full sway. 

13. Administration should be the result of consistent and 
wholesome plans, digested by common council, modified by 
common interest, and not ill-concerted and inco 7 igruous 
partisan measures. 

In all governments there is a certain amount of power 
which must be lodged somewhere. This power should 
be the natural outgrowth of laws intending to confer it. 
It is a wise plan of most governments to divide the 
recipients of power in such a manner that one division 
will form a check upon the other. The greatest check 
should be directed to that part which is the most 
powerful, and therefore most dangerous to liberty and 
the sacred rights of citizens. 

The branch of government which has charge of the 
administration is generally the executive. . In fact, there 
must be an executive, even if it be separate from the 


THE VOTERSS X-RAYS. 


85 


other branches of the government. The legislative 
makes rules of action for the citizens, and seeks to 
check the power and prescribe the boundaries of the 
executive. The judicial part is the interpreter of laws 
made by the legislative, and has great power on account 
of the latitude generally accorded it. Yet in theory it 
cannot transgress the limits of the legislative. The two 
last named should ever strive to place a check upon 
the first. This is necessary, for where power is lodged 
there is a natural tendency to increase. These mutual 
checks should operate, however, in such a manner as 
not to encroach upon the bounds of each other, because 
encroachment in this respect will necessarily lead to 
conflict. 

After the laws are made and a judicial interpre¬ 
tation is set upon them, it is still left for the executive 
to carry them into effect. In doing this there must 
be means adopted and plans devised. These must 
be made, or the government is no government at 
all. The first duty of the executive, then, is to 
devise these plans, so that they be consistent and 
wholesome. There should not be one plan to-day and 
another to-morrow. Consistency is as much a virtue 
here as in other cases. The plans, to be consistent, 
must be well-digested before an attempt is made to 
execute them. The effect of them must be well-con¬ 
sidered, or else there will arise an imperative necessit}^ 
for withdrawing them. Then another will be started, 
and thus would arise great inconsistency. Such a 
course would be very dangerous to every interest exist¬ 
ing under the government. Inconsistent plans would 
carry with them the prwia facie evidence of not having 
been well digested by common council before instituted. 
Every interest, of whatever nature, should be well con- 


86 


THE VO TEH S X-RAYS. 


suited upon and considered before plans are adopted 
and attempted to be executed. 

The wheels of trade cease to revolve, and the onward 
march of commerce is arrested, whenever an uncer¬ 
tainty exists as to what will be the course of the execu¬ 
tive. So a single industry will stop and wait whenever 
the executive in devising plans omits to take this inter¬ 
est into consideration. So the indication of an injury 
to an interest will even permanently destroy such inter¬ 
est. These things, therefore, show conclusively that 
the plans of the administration should be modified by 
mutual interests. 

If every interest is well considered in the making of 
plans, and the plans well digested by common council, 
then there will be little scope for the exercise of 
ill-concerted and incongruous partisan measures. It is 
a very serious question : how far should individuals 
indulge party spirit? It is certainly a much more 
serious question how far those charged with the 
administration should indulge such a spirit. A govern¬ 
ment cannot consistently with the right of free speech 
and liberty of the press, in any way curb party spirit 
in the individual. This is a matter which the individual 
must regulate for himself. Loyalty to government 
and earnest patriotism should restrain one from carry¬ 
ing party feeling to injurious excess. There is such a 
thing as blind loyalty to party, arising from bitter 
partisan feelings, and under such circumstances the 
man will be doing a great injury to his government 
with such intentions. Nay, he may even strive for 
great good for his government, and not be able to see 
the injurious consequences of his party acts. If one 
deems his party infallibly right, he will go to any meas¬ 
ures of destruction to gain a victory. He will always 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


87 


argue that it is a question of truth or error, right 
or wrong. This is excessive partisanship, and such 
the individual should avoid—yes, even detest. If we 
never become blinded with party spirit, then we will 
never do injury to our country and our government. 

If excessive partisanship is an evil in the individual, 
it is proportionably greater in the executive. This is so 
for the very obvious reason that the possibility of doing 
mischief is very greatly increased. No one can calcu¬ 
late the vast amount of injurious influence that may be 
done in the government by ilhconcerted and incongru¬ 
ous party measures. A party includes only a part of 
the citizens living under a government. A plan, 
therefore, which seeks to aid and benefit a party to the 
exclusion of others, is unjust and impolitic. The gov¬ 
ernment is supposed to be for the protection and general 
benefit of not a part, but the whole of the people. If 
the measures are partisan, then they are in direct con¬ 
flict with this principle—in subversion of very plain 
and obvious truths. 

Whence comes the right of one part of the community 
to advance its own interests while destroying and 
demolishing those of the other part of the community? 
Can there be any justice in the plan of a party which 
makes the interests of others a sacrifice to its own and 
favored interests? Does any one deem it just to have 
been made a gainer on account of the destruction of a 
neighbor’s rights? I think not. Then no one can rightly 
contend for the establishment of ill-concerted and incon¬ 
gruous measures of party in the administration of any 
government. 

14. There should be a general diffusion of knowledge. 

The only governmentswhich, upon principle, can be 
justly established, are those which the people establish 


88 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


of their own choice. A government should be of the 
people, by the people, and for the people. In order to 
make an intelligent choice, it is necessary that those to 
be governed should have sufficient knowledge to enable 
them to act from their own judgment ; otherwise they 
are the willing dupes of demagogues and those thirsty 
for power. They will thus act blindly ; become the 
victims of their own folly. They forge the chains 
with which they are to fetter themselves. 

If a person after receiving an elementary education 
should be able to gain only one more branch of knowl¬ 
edge, then let him endeavor to acquire a thorough 
knowledge of the principles of government. This will 
ever be useful to every man who has cast upon him the 
duties and responsibilities of a citizen. It is of double 
importance in a country having a free government, or 
one in which the right of suffrage is bestowed upon all 
citizens. There are fearful responsibilities connected 
with the exercise of this most precious right. One can¬ 
not safely assume such responsibilities unless he has the 
requisite knowledge. 

If one should be called upon to exercise official duties 
under a government, how much more important it is that 
he should have a most thorough knowledge of the lead¬ 
ing principles of good government. Suppose a man 
called upon to represent his district in the Legislature 
is ignorant of these fundamental principles, how can he 
be safely entrusted with this exalted duty of making 
laws? The rights involved are sacred and precious, 
and the act of legislation is the highest act one man can 
exercise over another. 

While such special knowledge is most indispensable, 
all knowledge is very useful to the correct discharge of 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


89 


the duties of a citizen. No one need fear obtaining a 
superabundance of knowledge. 

The principle under consideration requires that a 
government take all necessary measures to disseminate 
knowledge among the people. This is to be done by 
the establishment of free schools, and rendering them 
easily accessible to all classes. 

The words of President Monroe are as follows: 

“ Let us promote intelligence among the people. It 
is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, 
when they degenerate into a populace, that they are 
incapable of exercising the sovereignty. The people 
themselves become the willing instruments of their own 
ruin and debasement.” 

15. Labor and capital should be well regulated by a 
government. 

The rights of labor should be well defined and posi¬ 
tively established. So also should those of capital. 
Labor being the parent of capital, should have first 
consideration, and be of paramount importance. The 
government should consider that without labor it could 
not exist. Neither could it without capital. But the 
one is the source of the other, and hence labor is the 
prime support of the government. 

The measures of the government should chiefly be in 
support and protection of labor, while they should be in 
restraint and control of capital. Yet there should be 
protection of capital where it is necessary. Capital is a 
great power of itself. With its increase there is a pro¬ 
portionable increase of power. Such increase enables 
it to command everything under the government, even 
labor itself. It consequently assumes gigantic and most 
dangerous authority. It threatens even the power 
of the government itself. Hence, measures of the 


go 


THE VO TEE’S X-RAYS. 


government regulating capital should be in restraint 
of its illegal encroachments. -These measures should 
always look to the stripping of dangerous acquisition of 
power. If one should contend for the government 
making unjust discriminations against capital, he would 
violate the principle of equality as well as the common 
rules of natural right. But a government should not 
adopt regulations of labor and capital to the injury of 
labor. The rights of each are to be duly respected. 

When capital becomes full-grown, flushed with vigor, 
strong in such full growth, buoyed with hope, and 
utterly fearless of attack from the old parent, labor, we 
may well be prejudiced in favor of the parent. When 
we consider that there is proportional increase of power 
with increase of capital, and that such increase of power 
is dangerous, not only to the government itself, but to 
labor, then we should favor labor and measures which 
foster it. When we consider that the one is indispensa¬ 
ble to the existence and advancement of the other, then 
we should be willing to the adoption of such measures 
as will justly regulate each. If capital should become 
an open-mouthed and roaring lion, do not let the docile 
and submissive lamb, labor, take too much alarm. 
With favored measures of the government, a cage can 
be constructed, and the mad and hungry beast placed 
beyond the possibility of doing the lamb harm. 

A government cannot afford to illy regulate labor and 
capital so far as it has the power to make such regula¬ 
tion. There is so much of the happiness and the pros¬ 
perity of a people dependent upon due regulation of 
capital and labor by the government. 

16. Offices should be created for the highest public good, 
to give dignity, strength, purity and energy to the adminis¬ 
tration of the laws. 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS, 


91 


Public offices created by the government are always 
objects of profit to those who do not realize the use and 
intent of their creation. A number of people living 
under a government seem to be aware of no other purpose 
of an office than to obtain the means of livelihood by 
securing such office. Only the worthy should be per¬ 
mitted to hold public office. United to worthiness there 
should be capacity and capability. And, if it is an 
executive office, then there should be the qualification 
of firmness and wisdom. Those who are placed over 
the public treasury should be distinguished for financial 
ability, honesty and economy. 

That offices are to be created for the highest public 
good, bars the idea of creating them simply for the pur¬ 
pose of making place for the inveterate office-seeker. 
This principle makes public good the standard for 
ascertaining and determining the number of public 
offices. If, then, an office has been created, or is sought 
to be created, which in no way conduces to the public 
good, it should be abolished, or denied. What the 
public good requires may be a matter about which public 
opinion widely differs. But, when it once settles upon 
what is the public good, the creation or abolition of the 
office should follow. No candid, patriotic citizen will 
contend for any more or any less offices than the highest 
public good requires. 

Where a country is governed by laws, the highest 
public good will rest in such offices as add dignity, 
purity, strength and energy to the administration of the 
laws. It is apparent that these four requisites to admin¬ 
istration are very desirable, if not indispensable. We 
can scarcely imagine a government without such virtues 
in its administration that would be fit to rule mankind. 


92 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


In fact, without them, administration of the laws would 
be a failure. 

Let us, then, have only such offices as are necessary 
for the highest public good, and ever retain a bright 
recollection of the words of Judge Story in relation to 
offices under a republican government: 

“It should never be forgotten that in a republican 
government offices are established and are to be filled, 
not to gratify private interests, and private attachments, 
not as a means of corrupt influence and individual profit, 
and not for cringing favorites or court sycophants.” 

17. There should be due respect for the Christian religion. 

The Christian religion constitutes the foundation prin¬ 
ciples of good government. Its spirit should be incul¬ 
cated and interwoven in the laws. We should ever 
remember that national morality is based on and results 
from religious principles. 


VIII. OUR CIVIL GOVERNMENT IS THE 
REIGN OF LAW. 

L aw is a force. Thus we speak of the law of 
mechanics—the law of gravitation. The sun, 
moon and stars are held in obedience to a force. The 
atoms composing a body are held together by a force, 
and hence the law of cohesion. If you can imagine the 
absence of these forces, then chaos and disorganization 
would follow. What the atoms are to the larger body, 
individuals are to society, and society to the state. 
Law welds individuals together into society, and society 
into a state. Individuals are active atoms ; society is 
an active and restless body; the state is active, and 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


93 


should be progressive. Some individuals are weak; 
others are strong. One of the chief ends and first pur¬ 
poses of society is to protect the weak against the 
strong. To express the same idea in more apt lan¬ 
guage, each person is to be protected in the pursuit 
of his own true and substantial happiness, without 
depriving others of the same right. To this end, a force 
called law sprung into existence. Law is a rule of 
action. The superior in the state lays down the rule of 
action for the inferior. The laying down of this rule of 
action, and enforcing or executing it, is government. 

Government must deal with rights and wrongs. 
Rights of persons are such as concern and are annexed 
to the persons of men.” When due to the person they 
are called rights ; when due to other persons they are 
called duties. 

Persons are natural—that is, such as they are formed 
by nature—or artificial, created by laws, and they are 
then called corporations. 

There are two ways of regarding rights of natural 
persons, first, absolute, or such as belong to individuals; 
and, secondly, relative, or such as belong to the person 
from society. 

The absolute rights are: 

1. Personal security. This is obtained when we 
have the legal and uninterrupted enjoyment of life, 
limb, body, health and reputation. This absolute right 
is to secure the citizen against threats of bodily harm, 
or injury to his property, assault, battery, wounding, 
nuisances, slander, libel, or malicious prosecutions. 

2. Personal liberty. This is the power to go when 
and where one may please without restraint, unless by 
due process of law. To interfere with this power, 
unless authorized by law, is false imprisonment. The 


94 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS, 


only restraint that can be imposed upon liberty by law 
is such as is necessary for the good of society. 

The right of private property, which is the right of 
every person to the full use and disposal of his property 
without injury or diminution. Property is of two kinds. 
Personal property consists of goods, chattels, bonds, 
stocks, and the like. Real property is what is pop¬ 
ularly called real estate. 

In addition to the foregoing rights sacred to the 
human being, the writers and commentators on law 
mention others ; 

1. The limitations on the power' of government, 
imposed by the nature of things, or by constitutions, 
and to vindicate them when violated by the government. 
This right is now abridged by the cry of anarchy” 
when you endeavor to secure it to the people. 

2. The regular administration of public justice. This 
means that a man shall have his case tried by a duly 
constituted court, clothed with right to hear the case, 
and the hearing and decision according to precedent 
and principle. This right is violated when the court 
proceeds and has no jurisdiction, or the judge sets up 
his individual and personal opinion in defiance of prin¬ 
ciple, statute or constitution. It means a right to justice 
‘‘freely without sale, fully without denial, and speedily 
without delay.” 

3. The light of petitioning for redress of grievances. 
In Russia, the Czar Peter established a law that no 
subject might petition the throne until he had first 
petitioned two different ministers of state. In case he 
obtained justice from neither, he might then present a 
third petition to the prince, but upon pain of death if 
found to be wrong. The consequence was that no one 
dared to offer such third petition. The United States 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS, 


95 


government puts up a sign, “ Keep off the Grass,” and 
then puts men in jail for getting on the grass. 

4. The right to bear arms, under due restrictions 
founded on the natural right of self-preservation and 
defence, when the laws of society are not sufficient to 
restrain violence. 

5. The right to a constitution, and power to amend 
the same. We will take up this latter right and con¬ 
sideration of the Constitution of the United States 
subsequently, to the review of other matters necessary to 
a better understanding of such Constitution. 

In these several articles,” says Blackstone, con¬ 
sist the rights, or, as they are frequently termed, the 
liberties of Englishmen [or Americans], liberties more 
generally talked of than thoroughly understood, and 3^et 
highly necessary to be perfectly known and considered 
by every man of rank and property, lest his ignorance 
of the points whereon they are founded should hurry 
him into faction and licentiousness on the one hand, or 
a pusillanimous indifference and criminal submission on 
the other. And we have seen that these rights consist, 
primarily, in the full enjoyment of personal security, of 
personal liberty, and of private property. So long as 
these remain inviolate, the subject is perfectly free ; for 
every species of compulsive tyranny and oppression 
must act in opposition to one or the other of these 
rights, having no other object upon which it can possibly 
be employed. To preserve these from violation it is 
necessary the Constitution of Parliament [or the United 
States] be supported in its full vigor; and limits cer¬ 
tainly known be set to the royal prerogative [the 
government]. And, lastly, to indicate the rights, when 
actually violated or attacked, the subjects of England 
[citizens of the United States] are entitled, in the first 


96 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


place, to the regular and free course of justice in the 
courts of law ; next, to the right of petitioning the King 
and Parliament [the President and Congress] for 
redress of grievances ; and*, lastly, to the right of hav¬ 
ing and using arms for self-preservation and defence. 
And, all these rights and liberties it is our birthright to 
enjoy entire, unless where the laws of our country have 
laid them under necessary restraint—restraints in them¬ 
selves gentle and moderate, as will appear upon further 
inquiry, that no man of sense or probity would wish to 
see them slackened.” 

We must next regard the relations of persons. They 
are public and private. The public officers of the 
United States are executive, or those who execute the 
law, being the President and his Cabinet and subordi¬ 
nates, and those officers who administer and put the 
law in force in all departments of the government; the 
judges, or those who interpret the law, and the officers 
necessary to assist theih in the discharge of their duties, 
including their ministerial officers; the Congress, or 
law-making power, with which body the President 
unites by reason of a veto power. His veto power only 
extends to provisional death of a bill, as it can be 
passed by a two-thirds vote of each house over his veto. 

The President returns, with his objections, to the 
house in which it originated, any bill which he does not 
approve. If he does not return it within ten days 
(Sunday excepted) it becomes a law, unless Congress, 
by adjournment before the expiration of that time, pre¬ 
vents the return. All resolutions, orders or votes 
which require concurrence of both houses, except 
adjournments, must be presented to him ; if disapproved 
by him, they are proceeded with in the same manner as 
in case of a bill. He must be a native-born citizen, and 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


97 


holds his office for the term of four years. In case of 
his removal or inability to act, the Vice-President per¬ 
forms the duties of the office, and Congress has power 
to declare what officers shall fill the office, when the 
Vice-President cannot, from any cause, perform the 
duties thereof. The President takes an oath before he 
enters upon the duties of his office, and his salary can ¬ 
not be changed during his term of office. The people 
vote for electors, who vote for and elect the President. 
The President must have attained the age of thirty-five 
years, and must have been a citizen fourteen years 
before he is eligible. He can be impeached for treason, 
bribery or other high crimes or misdemeanors, and 
removed from office. 

It is the duty of the President to commission all 
officers of the United States ; faithfully execute the 
laws; receive ambassadors and other public ministers ; 
adjourn Congress, if the two houses cannot agree upon 
time of adjournment; convene both, or either, upon 
extraordinary occasions ; give information and recom¬ 
mend measures to Congress ; he may require the opinion 
in writing of each officer of the executive departments; 
grant reprieves or pardons, except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment ; fill up vacancies that happen during recess of 
Senate, by commissions which expire at the end of the 
next session ; by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, he appoints ambassadors and other public 
ministers, consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and 
other officers, whose appointments may be authorized 
by law, and not provided for by the Constitution. He 
is the commander in chief of the army and navy, and of 
the militia of the States when called into active service. 

Members of the House of Representatives are chosen 
for a term of two years. Each member must have 


98 


THE VOTERS X-RAYS. 


attained the age of twenty-five years, and been seven 
years a citizen of the United States. The Senate is 
composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by 
the Legislature, for a term of six years, and a Senator 
must have attained the age of thirty years, and been 
nine years a citizen of the United States before he is 
eligible. The Senate is the court of impeachment, and 
when sitting as such court, Senators are on oath or 
affirmation. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 
presides when the President is tried before this court. 
To convict in this court a two-thirds vote is required. 
The Vice-President is president of the Senate ; in his 
absence, or when he exercises the office of President of 
the United States, the Senate chooses a president pro 
tempore. The Senate, like the House, is judge of the 
election, returns and qualifications of its own members. 
A majority constitutes a quorum to do business, but a 
smaller number may meet and adjourn from day to day. 
It can make rules for its proceedings, compel attendance 
of members, punish them for disorderly conduct, and, 
with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 
A journal is to be kept and published, except such 
parts as may, in the judgment of the Senate, require 
secrecy. The Senate can only propose amendments to 
revenue bills, as such bills must originate in the House 
of Representatives. The Senate can advise and con¬ 
sent to treaties by a two-thirds vote. No State, without 
its consent, can be deprived of its equal representation 
in the Senate. If a vacancy occurs during the recess of 
the Legislature, the executive of the State makes a 
temporary appointment until the next meeting of the 
Legislature. Members of the Senate and House are 
privileged from arrest during their attendance and going 
to and returning from the Senate or House, except for 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


99 


treason, felony and breach of the peace. They are not 
answerable in any other place for a speech or debate in 
the House or Senate. They cannot be appointed to an 
office created during their term, or to one of which the 
emoluments have been increased during such term, nor 
can they hold another office. They cannot be electors 
for President and Vice-President. By amendment, a 
person who, as a State or Federal officer, took oath to 
support the Constitution, and afterwards engaged in 
rebellion against the United States, cannot be a Sen¬ 
ator or Representative, unless both houses have, by a 
two-thirds vote, removed the disability. The Vice- 
President has no vote in the Senate, unless the Senate 
be equally divided. 

We next come to the last class of officers, the judges 
of the courts. They hold office during good behavior. 
We have the Supreme Court and such inferior courts as 
Congress shall from time to time ordain and establish. 
The questions concerning the jurisdiction of these 
courts belong to the technical branches of legal prac¬ 
tice, and I shall not take up time to discuss them. 

In the United States a public office is not property, 
and in no sense does the officeholder arise above the 
dignity of a public servant. Too many of our public 
officers are painfully oblivious of their true relations 
to the public. 

We have now seen that the government employs 
officers to make, interpret and execute the laws. By 
the union or co-operation of this trinity of functions, 
we, the people, govern the United States. How? By 
law. The law should be no respecter of persons, 
, because it is a fundamental principle that ‘‘ all men are 
created equal, and endowed with certain unalienable 
rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of 


lOO 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


happiness ; that, to secure these rights, governments 
are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed.” Before the law, 
then, all men are equal. The poor man is the equal of 
the rich ; the ignorant of the intelligent ; the lowest in 
the social scale is the equal of the highest ; the tramp 
on trial for any offense is entitled to the same applica¬ 
tion of rules of practice, evidence and remedies as the 
millionaire. All men are equal before the law, and not 
in a social, intellectual, physical, pious or moral sense. 
The last-named qualities constitute an unbridged gulf 
of inequality. The truth may be stated in this way : 
As the law governs, it loses sight of persons or social 
inequalities while so governing. 

We should next inquire into the sources of law. We 
have now before us the different persons who constitute 
a state or nation, and have seen what their rights are, 
and that it is the business of law to secure to them such 
rights, and the duty of governments to administer and 
enforce the law. 

Rightly understood, law is the offspring of society. ' 
It is an effect, not a cause of society. You first 
have a necessity in society, and then a law to secure 
the rightful demand of such necessity. We first have 
the right, then the law to secure it. Rights exist in the 
nature of things and relations of men. They are 
instantly perceived and acknowledged by some pene¬ 
trating power of the human mind, and hence advocated 
by those so perceiving and recognizing them. Eventu¬ 
ally every one comes to recognize such rights, or a 
majority do so, and then it is only a question of secur¬ 
ing the rights by law. What the majority recognize as 
right becomes a law. The minority then say it is a bad 
law, because such minority do not recognize the right. 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


lOI 


Like all human inventions, government is not perfect ; 
therefore, human law is not perfect. It is the nearest 
appi ach to perfection that we are able to make. He 
who denies the right of the majority to govern would 
destroy all democratic government. Freedom of speech 
is the right left the minority. They can attack the bad 
law, as they call it, but must obey it. If they can 
obtain a majority to see it as such minority does, then 
the minority is transformed into the majority. The real 
law which governs us is the rule of action perceived and 
recognized by the majority as right. 

Aristotle said, “Man is a political animal.” That 
learned writer on elementary law. Smith, said : “ His¬ 

tory does not reach back far enough into the past to 
reveal a civilized people without some form of political 
organization.” We can accurately state the fountain of 
law is the desire and action of political organizations to 
secure and protect rights. The sequence is municipal 
law. This is defined “as a rule of civil conduct 
prescribing what is right and prohibiting what is 
wrong.” It is the business of the government of the 
United States to provide and enforce municipal law. 
The body making the law is called the sovereign power. 
The people of the United States are sovereign. They 
have delegated to the Congress a part of their sover¬ 
eignty, reserving to themselves ultimate sovereignty, 
because the people have the right to change the instru¬ 
ment so delegating the powers, viz.: the Constitution. 
The preamble to the Constitution is that “we, the 
people of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran¬ 
quility, provide for the common defense, promote the 
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish 


102 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


this Constitution for the ‘ United States of America.”* 
This Constitution went into effect March 4, 1789. 

A constitution is defined as a collection of princi¬ 
ples and rules established by the sovereign body- in 
accordance with which the government of the state is 
to be conducted” (Smith’s Elementary Law). The 
government of the United States not only protects the 
rights, life liberty and property of the citizens, but, as 
is evidenced by the preamble to the Constitution, seeks 
to provide for the positive welfare of citizens. I will 
quote as to the usual functions of government from 
Woodrow Wilson’s work ‘‘The State.” He divided 
them into constituent and ministrant. The constituent are 
functions necessary to proper administration of justice, 
enumerated as follows : (i) The keeping of order and 

providing for the protection of persons and property 
from violence and robbery. (2) The fixing of the legal 
relations between man and wife, and between parents 
and children. (3) The regulation of the holding, trans¬ 
mission and interchange of property, and the determina¬ 
tion of liabilities for debt and for crime. (4) The 
determination of contract rights between individuals. 
(5) The definition and the punishment of crime. (6) 
The administration of justice in civil causes. (7) The 
determination of the political duties, privileges and 
relations of citizens. (8) Dealings of the state with 
foreign powers, the preservation of the state from 
external danger or encroachments, and the advance¬ 
ment of its international interests. 

The ministrant functions denote all the other ordinary 
functions, as follows : (i) The regulation of trade and 

industry. (2) The regulation of labor. (3) The main¬ 
tenance of thoroughfares. (4) The maintenance of 
postal and telegraph systems. (5) The manufacture 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


103 


and the distribution of gas (or electricity), the mainten¬ 
ance of waterworks, etc. (6) Sanitation, including the 
regulation of trades for sanitary purposes. (7) Educa¬ 
tion. (8) Care of the poor and incapable. (9) Care 
and cultivation of forests, and like matters, such as 
stocking the rivers with fish. (10) Sumptuary laws, 
such as prohibition laws. 

I believe the foregoing to be a perfect compendium 
of the functions of government. To perform these 
functions, different kinds of government have been 
devised by man. The first was theocracy, or direct 
government by God. It ought to be needless to add 
this form of government has disappeared in form and 
name. Then there was the patriarchy, which v/as gov¬ 
ernment of the first father of the family, as long as 
he lived. Next is monarchy. This is of two kinds : 
Absolute or pure monarchy is that form of government 
in which all the powers are vested in a single person 
called a monarch ; and constitutional monarchy, which 
is that form of government where the monarch is not 
irresponsible, and governs according to his own will, but 
has limitations imposed upon him by a constitution ; 
he is not an absolute sovereign ; Great Britain is an 
example of a limited monarchy. Next is aristocracy. 
This form of government is where the powers are vested 
in the hands of a few persons. In its original sense it 
means government by the best or a council of select 
members. Lastly, we have democracy. This means 
government by all the people. It is the coming 
together of all the people to make the laws—an aggre¬ 
gate assembly of all free members of a community. 
The government of the United States is a representa¬ 
tive democracy or republic. 

We combine the strength and wisdom of all forms of 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS, 


104 

government. In the language of Blackstone, “Where 
the right of making the laws resides in the people at 
large, public virtue, or goodness of intention is more 
likely to be found than either of the other qualifica¬ 
tions of government. Popular assemblies are fre¬ 
quently foolish in their contrivance, or weak in their 
execution, but generall}^ mean to do the thing that is 
right and just, and have always a degree of patriotism 
or public spirit. In aristocracies there is more wis¬ 
dom to be found than in other frames of government, 
being composed, or intended to be composed, of the 
most experienced citizens ; but there is less honesty 
than in a republic, and less strength than in a 
monarchy.” 

While we have States and State governments, and 
these performing many functions of government, as before 
adverted to and pointed out by Mr. Wilson, yet we also 
have a Federal state. The States have surrendered to 
the Federal state full power in certain matters of gen¬ 
eral and common welfare, reserving to themselves 
limited power to such affairs as have not been surren¬ 
dered to the Federal state. To be explicit, the Federal 
state is the United States. The Federal state cannot 
be dissolved any more than can be any one of the 
States. A State cannot secede from the Federal state 
any more than a county can secede from a State. In 
some matters the Federal state is supreme. In others, 
the States composing the Union are supreme. You 
ask in what matters the Federal state is supreme, and 
the answer is contained in the Constitution of the 
United States. The steps taken which led up to the 
formation of our Federal state were: The Colonies 
felt a necessity for mutual aid, and hence agitation for 
association to this end ; oppression by England in 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


105 

matters of taxation ; denial of trials in the Colonies ; 
claiming right to legislate in Parliament for the Colo¬ 
nies, and other minor grievances associated the Colonies 
for mutual defense, enactment of the Declaration of 
Independence, Articles of Confederation, which did not 
erect a Federal state, but a mere league without sover¬ 
eign power. This was soon found to be defective and 
useless ; and then was enacted the Constitution. This 
is an act passed by the sovereign people. It is the 
fundamental written law of the Federal state. 

The United States Supreme Court, in the case of 
McCulloch against Maryland (4th Wheat., 316), speak¬ 
ing through Chief Justice Marshall, the most brilliant of 
all that court’s Chief Justices, said : 

The powers of the general government, it has . been 
said, are delegated by the States, who alone are truly 
sovereign, and must be exercised in subordination to the 
States, who alone possess supreme dominion. It would 
be difficult to sustain this proposition. The convention 
which framed the Constitution was indeed selected by 
the State Legislatures ; but the instrument, when it 
came from their hands, was a mere proposal, without 
obligation or pretentions to it. It was reported to the 
then existing Congress of the United States, with a 
request that it might be submitted to a convention of 
delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, 
under the recommendation of its Legislature, for their 
assent and ratification. This mode of proceeding was 
adopted by the convention, by Congress and by the 
Legislatures ; the instrument was submitted to the 
people ; they acted upon it in the only manner in which 
they can act safely, effectively and wisely on such a 
subject—by assembling in convention. It is true they 
assembled in their several States; and where else would 
they have assembled? No political dreamer was ever 
wild enough to think of breaking down the lines which 
separate the States, and of compounding the people 
into one mass. Of consequence, when they act, they 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS, 


io6 

act in their States. But the measures they adopt do 
not on that account cease to be the measures of the 
people themselves, or become the measures of the State 
governments. 

‘‘From these conventions the Constitution derives its 
whole authority. The government proceeds directly 
from the people, is ordained and established in the 
name of the people, and is declared to be ordained in 
order to form a more perfect union. * * * the 

end it is to be said that there is a sovereignty of the 
States created by the people of the several States, and a 
sovereignty of the United States derived from the peo¬ 
ple of the United States, and to be exercised and enjoyed 
freely within the limits prescribed by the Constitution.” 

The scheme of dual government is thus tersely 
summed up by Mr. Boutwell, in his work on “The 
Constitution of the United States at the End of the First 
Century ” : 

“The United States, as a government, does not 
derive its existence from the States in their political, 
corporate capacity, but from the whole people, and, 
independent of the fact that, for certain purposes not 
inconsistent with purposes for which the national gov¬ 
ernment was created, the same people owe allegiance 
to the several States, that the nation might exist, even 
if the States, as political organizations, should disap¬ 
pear, and finally that the States, as political organiza¬ 
tions, have no constitutional power to interfere with the 
action of the general government.” 

The powers of the Federal state are those granted to 
it, either expressly or by implication, in the Constitution 
of the United States. All the other powers are reserved 
to the States. To quote Mr. Smith again, from his 
excellent work : “ It is now generally agreed that the 

construction of the Constitution of the United States 
should be liberal, that the Federal government should 
be allowed to exercise not only powers expressly dele- 


THE VOTERSS X-RAYS. 


107 


gated to it, but also those incidental powers necessary 
to carry the express powers into execution.” 

“ This Constitution, and the laws of the United 
States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and 
all treaties made, or which shall be made under author¬ 
ity of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the 
land ; and the judges in every State shall be bound 
thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any 
State to the contrary notwithstanding.” 

The Constitution is to be construed according to the 
sense of the terms and the intention of the makers and 
parties. Where the words are plain and clear, and the 
sense distinct and perfect, it interprets itself; the 
nature and objects, scope and design, as to parts and 
as to the whole, and that sense is to be adopted which, 
without departing from the literal import of the words, 
best harmonizes with the nature and objects, the scope 
and design of the instrument. Whenever it is a ques¬ 
tion of power it should be approached with infinite 
caution, and affirmed only on the most persuasive 
reasons. The most unexceptionable source of collateral 
interpretations is from the practical expositions of the 
government itself in its various departments upon par¬ 
ticular questions discussed and settled upon their own 
single merits. 

The Constitution is to be construed as a frame or 
fundamental law of government, established by the 
people of the United States according to their own free 
pleasure and sovereign will, for the common benefit of 
the government, and not for the profit or dignity of 
the rulers. The interpretation is to be reasonable, and 
such as will give efficacy and force to the government, 
rather than such as will impair its operations and reduce 
it to a state of imbecility. No interpretation of the 
words can be a sound one which narrows their import 


io8 


THE VO TEH S X-EAYS. 


so as to defeat the objects. Unless some clear restric¬ 
tion is deducible from the context, a power is to be con¬ 
strued as coextensive with its terms ; the restriction 
may arise by implication; the Constitution is to be 
construed, not to be framed ; a power in general terms 
is not to be restricted merely because it may be abused. 

Every form of government unavoidably includes a 
grant of some discretionary powers, and must be adapted 
to existing manners, habits and institutions of society, 
which are never stationary. On the other hand, a power 
is not to be enlarged beyond the fair scope of its terms 
merely because the restriction is inconvenient. It should 
not be lost sight of that the government of the United 
States is one of limited powers; and a departure from 
the true import and sense of its powers is, to that extent, 
the establishment of a new constitution. The means 
required to execute a power are to be deemed a part of 
the power itself; there is no solid objection to implied 
powers; and implied powers are not denied merely 
because another clause enumerates certain powers. 
Technical words are to receive a technical meaning, and 
the same word is not construed in the same sense when¬ 
ever it occurs in the same instrument, because states¬ 
men and practical reasoners weigh whole clauses and 
objects, and not single words, as philologists or critics. 
The constitution of a government does not, and cannot, 
from its nature, depend in any great degree upon mere 
verbal criticism, or upon the import of single words. 
The Constitution unavoidably deals in general language. 
It did not suit the purpose of the people, in framing this 
great charter of our liberties, to provide for minute 
specifications of its powers, or to declare the means by 
which those powers should be carried into execution. 
It was foreseen that it would be perilous and difficult, if 


THE VO TEH S X-RAYS, 


log 

not an impracticable task. The instrument was intended 
to provide not merely for the exigency of a few years, 
but was to endure through a long lapse of ages, the 
events of which were locked up in the inscrutable pur¬ 
poses of Providence. It could not be foreseen what 
new changes and modifications of power might be indis¬ 
pensable to effectuate the general objects of the charter ; 
and restrictions and specifications, which at the present 
might seem salutary, might in the end prove the over¬ 
throw of the system itself. Hence its powers are 
expressed in general terms, leaving the Legislature 
from time to time to adopt its own means to carry out 
legitimate objects, and to mould and model the exercise 
of its powers as its own wisdom and the public interests 
should require. But the policy of one age may not 
omit that of another. The Constitution is not to be 
subject to fluctuations. It is to have a fixed, uniform, 
permanent construction. It should be, so far at least 
as human infirmity will allow, not dependent upon the 
passions or parties of particular times, but the same 
yesterday, to-day and forever. Constitutions are not 
designed for metaphysical or logical subtleties, for nice¬ 
ties of expression, for critical propriety, for elaborate 
shades of meaning, or for the exercise of philosophical 
acuteness or juridical research. They are instruments 
of a practical nature, founded on the common business 
of human life, adapted to common wants, designed for 
common use, and fitted for common understandings. 
The people make them, the people adopt them, the 
people must be supposed to read them, with the help of 
common sense, and cannot be presumed to adnlit in 
them any recondite meaning or extraordinary gloss. 
These principles and rules for interpretation of the Con¬ 
stitution are selected from Story’s Commentaries on 


no 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS, 


the Constitution.” He was a great constitutional 
authority, and his words should now have great weight: 

What cannot a State do? It cannot exercise sover¬ 
eignty when it has delegated it to the Federal state. 
Where the delegation is exclusive, the State is precluded 
of the exercise of such sovereignty. This exclusive 
delegation exists in three cases : i. Where the author¬ 
ity is granted to the Federal state, and prohibited to the 
States. 2. Where the authority granted to the Federal 
state and a similar authority in the States would be con¬ 
tradictory and repugnant. 3. Where exclusive author¬ 
ity is granted to the Federal state in express terms. 

In some instances there is a concurrent power of the 
Federal state and the States. 

By the terms of the Constitution, Congress has power 
to regulate commerce among the States. No State can 
enter into any treaty, alliance or confederation, or surren¬ 
der a fugitive, on its own motion, upon requisition from 
a foreign nation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
coin money, emit bills of credit, make anything but gold 
and silver coin a tender in payment of debts, grant title 
of nobility, nor pay any debt incurred by aid of insur¬ 
rection, rebellion, or pass an ex post facto law, bill of 
attainder, or a law impairing the obligation of a contract. 

By and with the consent of Congress, a State can lay 
a duty on exports or imports, and tonage duty ; keep 
troops and ships of war in time of peace ; enter into 'an 
agreement with any other State or foreign power; 
engage in war. When there is actual invasion or immi¬ 
nent danger that will not admit of delay, a State need 
not wait for consent of Congress. In case of domestic 
violence, on application of the Legislature, if in session, 
or the executive of the State if the Legislature is not in 
session, the Federal state is to protect the State, and 


THE VO TEH S X-EAVS. 


Ill 


send troops for such purpose. The Federal state guar¬ 
antees to each State a republican form of government. 
Full faith and credit is to be given in every other State 
to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of 
each State ; the manner of proving those acts and 
records is prescribed by Congress. A citizen of one 
State is a citizen of the United States, and cannot be 
deprived of the privileges and immunities of citizens in 
the several States. New States may be admitted into 
the Union, but no new State may be formed within the 
jurisdiction of another, or by junction of two or more 
States, or parts of States, without the consent of the 
Legislatures of such States, as well as of Congress. 

The law-making power is vested in the Congress. In 
the enumeration of the powers of Congress are the 
following: To lay and collect duties, imposts and 
excises ; pay the debts; provide for the common 
defenses and general welfare ; borrow money on credit 
of the United States ; regulate foreign and domestic 
commerce; establish uniform rules for naturalization, 
and uniform laws of bankruptcy; coin money and regu¬ 
late its value, and the value of foreign coin ; fix the 
standard weights and measures; establish post-offices 
and post-roads; punish counterfeiting ; promote the 
progress of science, and useful arts and authorship ; to 
define and punish piracy; declare war ; grant letters of 
marque and reprisal ; make rules concerning captures ; 
raise and support armies; provide and maintain a navy, 
and make rules for the government of the army and 
navy ; provide for arming and equipping the militia, 
and call it out to execute the laws; suppress insurrec¬ 
tions and repel invasions ; to exercise exclusive jurisdic¬ 
tion over the district fixed for the seat of government, 
and over forts magazines, arsenals and dockyards, and 


II2 


THE VOTER'S X^RAVS, 


to make all laws necessary and proper to carry into 
effect the powers vested by the Constitution in the gov¬ 
ernment of the United States. Congress may fix the 
time and place of choosing electors for President and 
Vice-President, and the day on which they shall cast 
their votes. Congress may consent that a person hold¬ 
ing office under the United States can accept of a 
present, emolument, office or title from a foreign state. 
Congress can propose amendments to the Constitution 
by a two-thirds vote, and make rules and regulations to 
govern the territories. Congress cannot pass a bill of 
attainder or ex post facto law, or lay a tax or duty on 
exports from a State, or give a preference to the ports 
of one State over those of another State, or compel 
vessels bound to or from one State to enter, clear or pay 
duties in another. An ex post facto law is one pertain¬ 
ing to criminal matters ; retrospective laws pertain to 
civil cases. The latter may be constitutional. The 
former, never. From the cases of Calder against Bull 
(3 Dali., 386), Cummings against State of Missouri 
(4 Wall., 277), and the case of ex parte Garland (4 Wall., 
333), it is made to appear that an act of Congress which 
makes an act criminal which was not criminal when the 
act was committed, or makes the act a greater crime, or 
provides for greater punishment than was provided 
when the crime was committed, or requires less or 
different testimony to the injury of the defendant than 
was required at the time of the commission of the 
offense, is an ex post facto law. 

From the power of Congress to regulate interstate 
commerce, we have the following practical results : 
Commerce means traffic and intercourse, and includes 
the carriage of passengers, as well as of goods, and 
comprehends navigation ; the complete internal com- 




THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


II3 

merce of a State is reserved to the State ; until Congress 
acts, a State has full power over the navigable waters 
within the State, and can erect dams, bridges, and 
remove obstructions ; the control of the State is abso¬ 
lute between high and low-water mark ; States may 
improve navigable waters, and charge tolls for the use 
thereof within the limits of the State ; a State cannot 
impose a more onerous burden on products of another 
State brought therein for sale or use than upon like 
products of its own soil or citizens ; a State cannot 
impose a tax upon cars used for transportation into, out 
of or across it. Telegraph companies engaged in for¬ 
eign or interstate business, are subject to control of 
Congress as to such business, and to the States as to 
the business exclusively within the State limits ; a tax 
upon receipts for interstate or foreign business or 
license tax for such privilege of such companies is 
invalid ; goods placed in the custody of a carrier to be 
transported are subjects of interstate commerce, and not 
taxable by the State whence they come, or through 
which they pass ; a State tax upon “drummers repre¬ 
senting principals from another State is void ; a State 
tax upon original packages is void, or imposition of a 
license tax upon an importer. 

The States have a right to legislate upon and regu¬ 
late matters necessary for local purposes which only 
incidentally affect commerce, as pilots, wharves, har¬ 
bors, roads, bridges, tolls, police, quarantine, etc. 
These are not so much regulations of commerce as 
of police. States may pass and enforce prohibition of 
the sale or manufacture of intoxicating liquors. It is 
for the State to say whether or not a business shall be 
carried on within its limits. 

A State tax upon imported goods after they pass into 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


II 4 

the hands of the purchaser, although in the original 
packages at the time of the levy, is valid; a State tax 
upon gross receipts of a railroad extending into and 
operating indifferent States is void; a State tax upon 
vessels as property, according to their valuation, is 
valid ; a fee imposed by the State upon a vessel passing 
a quarantine station is valid ; and a wharfage rate which 
is fair and reasonable, imposed by a municipal corpor¬ 
ation, is valid. 

A State can enact a bankruptcy law, or insolvent law, 
which operates in the discharge of contracts made 
within the State, between parties and citizens of such 
State, subsequent to the passage of such act. 

We must now review some general duties and powers 
of our government derived from the Constitution. 
Congress has power to coin money and borrow money. 
The results of the decisions of the United States 
Supreme Court, in legal tender cases and other kindred 
cases, are as follows : 

1. That the necessary notes are valid, as legal tender, 
in payment of private debts. 

2. That ‘^the obligation of a contract to pay money 
is to pay that which the law shall recognize as money 
when the payment is to be made.” 

3. That Congress can “issue the obligations of the 
United States in such form, and impress upon them 
such qualities as currency, for the purchase of merchan¬ 
dise and the payment of debts as accord with the usage 
of sovereign governments.” 

4. The question as to when it is wise or expedient 
to resort to this means for currency, is a political ques¬ 
tion to be settled by Congress, and not the courts. 

5. That Congress is not to be restrained nor inter¬ 
fered with by the courts in the exercise of its discretion 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS, 


I15 

as to choice of means for carrying into effect a power 
granted, unless a plain provision of the Constitution is 
violated. 

Among other rights secured by the Constitution is 
the right to the use of the writ of Habeas Corpus to test 
the legality of an imprisonment. This writ cannot be 
suspended unless public safety requires it in time of 
rebellion or invasion. Even then the writ issues, as of 
course, and on the return the court determines whether 
the party applying is denied the right of further pro¬ 
ceeding with it. We have alsa secured to us the right 
to the free exercise of speech, religion and the press ; 
to peaceably assemble, and to petition the govern¬ 
ment for redress of grievances ; also the right to be 
secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. No 
search-warrant can issue but upon probable cause, sup¬ 
ported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describ¬ 
ing the place to be searched, and the person or thing to 
be seized. In time of peace, no soldier, without your 
consent, can be quartered in your house. No person 
can be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime 
unless upon presentment, or indictment, except incases 
arising in and under military rule in time of war or 
public danger. No person can be twice tried for the 
same offense, or be compelled to be a witness against 
himself in a criminal case ; the accused shall have a 
speedy and public trial in the State and district where 
the crime shall have been committed, by an impartial 
jury of such State and district ; he shall have compul¬ 
sory process for witnesses, be confronted with the accu¬ 
sation and witnesses against him, and have assistance 
of counsel for his defense ; he is not subject to excessive 
bail or fines, or cruel and unusual punishment ; no right 
of the citizen can be abridged on account of race, color 


Il6 ' THE VOTERS X-RAYS. 

or previous condition of servitude. In suits at common 
law, where the amount in dispute exceeds twenty 
dollars, the trial by jury cannot be taken away, and the 
fact once tried a jury cannot be re-examined in any 
court of the United States otherwise than according to 
the rules of common law. 

Life, liberty or property cannot be taken without due 
process of law, and private property for public use 
can only be taken for such use upon just compensation. 

There have been very many attempts to define what 
is meant by due process of law.” In my judgment it 
means that the proceedings against the rights of persons, 
as represented by the terms life, liberty and property, 
shall be agreeable to the maxims, customs and unwritten 
laws which were the birthright of our ancestors and our 
inheritance. The courts of a State, as well as the courts 
of the United States, have the right to inquire, upon a 
review of a criminal case, whether the accused has been 
convicted by ‘‘due process of law.” 

This great charter of our liberties, proceeding from 
the sovereign people, recognizes principles beneath the 
rules promulgated in the Constitution. The principles 
of the common law, which is reason and common sense 
applied to the affairs of men, existed before the Consti¬ 
tution, and will always exist. Thus, before the Consti¬ 
tution, private property could not have been taken for 
public use without just compensation ; the right to 
security in one’s house was established at common law, 
because one’s house was bis castle. 

A constitution is the fundamental law of the land. 
Whatever is sought to be made as law, must conform to 
this instrument. It is the only bill of rights needed by 
the United States, and the “rage of theorists to make 
constitutions a vehicle for the conveyance of their own 



THE VO TEH S X-RAYS. 


I17 

crude and visionary aphorisms of government, requires 
to be guarded against with the most unceasing 
vigilance.” 

In addition to tlie Constitution, treaties made in 
pursuance thereof and international law regulate 
the affairs of our people, and we are obliged to 
yield obedience to these two classes or laws, the same 
as we do to other rules or statutes. 

The Federal state does not possess a complete 
unwritten system of law. By section 34 of the Judiciary 
Act of 1789, it is provided : ‘‘ The laws of the several 

States, except where the Constitution, treaties or stat¬ 
utes of the United States shall otherwise recognize or 
provide, shall be regarded as rules of decision in trials 
at common law in the courts of the United States in 
cases where they apply. This section applies to posi¬ 
tive statutes of a State, and the construction thereof by 
local tribunals, and to rights and titles to things of per¬ 
manent locality, such as rights and titles to real estate, 
and other matters immovable in their nature and charac¬ 
ter. * * * And it does not apply to contracts and 

other instruments of a commercial nature, the true 
interpretation and effect whereof are to be sought, not 
in the decisions of local tribunals, but in the general 
principles and doctrines of commercial jurisprudence.” 
(Swift vs. Tyson, 16 Peters, i. Story, J.) 

The order or precedence of the law b}^ which our 
great country is governed is : The Constitution of the 
United States ; treaties made in pursuance thereof; the 
statutes of the United States; the Constitution of a 
State ; the State statutes ; the ordinances of municipali¬ 
ties, cities, boroughs, townships, etc., and the common 
law, which is determined by reports of decisions of 
cases in courts. 


ii8 


THE VOTERS X-RAYS. 


We have been taught that the right of property is a 
right; that the honest fruits of your honest labor belong 
to you. The fruits of this labor are represented by 
property, personal or real. We have seen that the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States secures to us the right of 
property. There are theorists who deny the right of 
property. These theorists have a philosophy compati¬ 
ble with different stages of civilization : i. In anarchy 
there is no permanent ownership, but mere possession 
coupled with no tenure. 2. Socialistic, or communistic, 
which destroys individual ownership, and recognizes 
only property in a community. 3. Individual owner¬ 
ship, or possession, which is called private property. 
The third class is recognized and secured by the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States. Communism can have 
no lodgment in the bosom of advancing civilization. 
The principle is admirably stated by Montesquieu : 

‘ ^Just as nmi have renounced their natural independejice to 
live under political laws, they have also renounced the natural 
community of goods to live under civil laws. The former 
laws gave them liberty, the latter property.^^ 

There are some fundamental rules, applicable to the 
ownership of property, which ought to be generally 
known ; 

1. Sic utere tuo ut alienum non Icedas. So use youP 
own property as not to injure that of others. 

2. Property is held, and must be used, subject to 
regulations and provisions for preserving and promoting 
the health and welfare of the community. 

3. Property may be taken by due process of law to 
satisfy the owner’s debts. 

4. Property is owned or possessed subject to tax¬ 
ation. 

5. Property is subject to the right of eminent 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS, 


I19 


domain—the right of the public to take it for public use 
upon making just compensation. 

All these rights belong to citizens of the United 
States. And who is a citizen? One who is born within 
the United States and subject to its laws ; or, one who 
was not born tlierein, tut who becomes naturalized. 
One who is a citizen of the United States is a citizen of 
the State in which he has a legal residence. Aliens 
under the protection of our laws are permitted to enjoy 
the rights of citizens, except in those instances where 
the enjoyment of the right is made to depend upon 
citizenship. 

And now, at far greater length than I had expected to 
go, I have endeavored to point out the theory and 
foundation of the government of the United States. 
To compress, in the compass of one lecture, the funda¬ 
mental rules of action has been exceedingly difficult. 
The law which is needful to be known for a comprehen¬ 
sive view of government I have sought to bring to your 
attention. 

Law is a force ; this force, in civil affairs, we name 
government. In the language of Owen Meredith, I 
say : 

“Still the watch-fire must burn, still the watchman must wake, 

And still force arm to keep what force arms to take.” 

The watch-fires of our government are the flames of 
patriotism ; the watchmen its officers and public serv¬ 
ants ; the force in their hands the law. Our rights and 
liberties will be kept by law. The law flows from the 
people. The force of the people, as a government, is 
law. We are not governed, in our civil affairs, by the 
capricious will of a monarch, emperor or tyrant, but by 
law founded upon the inseparable and inherited rights 
of men. Let us hope it shall always be so. 


120 


7'HE VOTER’S X-EAYS. 


IX. STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES OF CIVIL 
GOVERNMENT. 


‘‘ Principles are from God ; rules are made by man.” 


E quality of rights, equality of burdens, and 
equality of privileges. Reverence and fear of 
God, and acknowledgment to Him for all blessings as a 
nation. Love, liberty and unity, the palladium of our 
political safety and prosperity. Always exalt a just 
pride of patriotism. Avoid the necessity of an over¬ 
grown military establishment. Avoid discriminations 
between sections. A government for the whole, and 
no alliance between parts. Respect for authority, com¬ 
pliance with law, acquiescence in measures. A right to 
alter the Constitution. No obstructions to the execu¬ 
tion of the law. The will of the nation, and not the 
will of a party to govern. 

Administration should be the organ of consistent and 
wholesome plans, digested by common council, and 
modified by mutual interest, and not the organ of ill- 
concerted and incongruous projects of faction. Party 
spirit is to be curbed, and the door closed against the 
ingress of foreign influence. Those entrusted with 
administration are not to encroach on others, i. e,, each 
department is to be confined to its own constitutional 
sphere. Amend the Constitution in a way which the 
Constitution designates. 

National morality must be based on, and result from, 
religious principles. Enlighten public opinion by a 
general diffusion of knowledge. Cherish public credit, 
and make vigorous exertions in times of peace to dis¬ 
charge debts. 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


121 


Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. 
1)1 extending our commercial relations we are to have 
as little political connection as possible with foreign 
nations. We are not to become implicated in foreign 
affairs by artificial ties. We are to steer clear of per¬ 
manent alliances, as far as possible, but have no infi¬ 
del it}^ to engagements, as honesty is the best policy. 
Harmon}^ and liberal intercourse with all nations. We 
are to guard against the impostures of pretended 
patriotism. 

When your services are demanded by the general 
voice of the people, never refuse to bestow them. The 
Constitution is meant for the home-bred, unsophisti¬ 
cated understandings of our fellow-citizens. Our union 
is a political necessity. The welfare of the people is to 
be considered before the welfare of any single interest, 
or of any single man. Capital should be th ^ servant of 
labor, and not its master. Nor have I entertained any 
thought of promoting any alteration in the Constitution 
but such as the people themselves should see and feel 
to be necessary and expedient, according to the Consti¬ 
tution itself. 

A general dissemination of knowledge and virtue 
throughout the whole body of the people. An unshaken 
confidence in the honor, spirit and resources of the 
American people. All are to range themselves under 
the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the 
common good. Though the will of the majority is in 
all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be 
reasonable. The minority possesses its equal rights, 
which equal laws must protect. Equal and exact justice 
to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious 
or political. Absolute , acquiescence in the decision of 
the majority is the vital principle of republics. 


122 


THE VO TEE’S X-RAYS. 


Economy in public expense that labor may be lightly 
burdened. Constitution is the cement of the Union. 
As the creature must be subject to the Creator, so cor¬ 
porations must be subject to law. Ask for nothing but 
what is right, and submit to no wrong. Civil govern¬ 
ment should guarantee the divine right of every laborer 
to the fruits of his toil. 

The people of the United States, by the Constitution, 
establish a national government, with sovereign powers, 
legislative, executive and judicial. Our Constitution is 
not to be interpreted with the strictness of a private 
contract. 

The only hope a family can have to maintain its fame 
and distinction is the preservation of virtue in its 
decendants. The only basis of just legislation is the 
highest good to the greatest number. In free govern¬ 
ments the ordinary securities against abuse are found in 
the responsibilities of rulers to the people, and in the 
just exercise of their elective franchise, and ultimately 
in the sovereign power of change belonging to them in 
cases requiring extraordinary remedies. 

Government is a practical thing made for the happi¬ 
ness of mankind, and not to furnish a spectacle of 
uniformity to gratify the schemes of visionary politi¬ 
cians. The business of those who are to administer is 
to rule, and not to wrangle. All should be represented 
and all equal in rights and privileges. One of the surest 
means of preserving peace is by being always prepared 
for war. A good government implies two things : i. 
Fidelity to the objects of government. 2. A knowledge 
of the means by which those objects can be best obtained. 
The aim of every political constitution is: i. To 
obtain for rulers men who have most wisdom to discern, 
and most virtue to pursue, the common good of society. 



THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


123 


2. To take the most effectual precautions for keeping 
them virtuous whilst they continue their public trust. 
Four qualifications of a representative : i. Fidelity. 2. 
Sound judgment. 3. Competent information. 4. In¬ 
corruptible independence. 

The President is the representative of the whole 
people in the aggregate. The evil of all free govern¬ 
ments is a tendency to overlegislation. Every power 
ought to be proportionate to its objects. One of the 
great objects of the Constitution was the encourage¬ 
ment and protection of navigation and trade. The peo¬ 
ple should know what money is expended, for what 
purposes, and by what authority. 

The legislative, judicial and executive powers are to 
be separate. Energy in the executive is the leading 
character in the definition of a good government. The 
ingredients of energy are : i. Unit)^ 2. Duration. 

3. Adequate provision for its support. 4. Competent 
powers. Those of safety are : i. Dependence on the 
people. 2. Responsibility to the people. Responsi¬ 
bility is of two kinds : i. Censure. 2. Punishment. 

It should never be forgotten that, in a republican 
government, offices are established and are to be filled, 
not to gratify private interests and private attachments ; 
not as a means of corrupt influence or individual profit; 
not for cringing favorites or court sycophants, but for 
the purposes of the highest public good, to give dignity, 
strength, purity and energy to the administration of the 
laws. Power is perpetually stealing from the many to 
the few. We have a government of laws, not of men. 
The will of the people is, and ought to be, supreme. 
Supremacy of laws is attached to those only which are 
made in pursuance of the Constitution. 

The prescriptions in favor of liberty ought to be 


124 


THE VO TEE'S X-EAYS. 


leveled against that quarter where the greatest danger 
lies, viz.: that which possesses the highest power. A 
law is always presumed to be constitutional. A law 
may be constitutional in part, and void in part. If the 
good can be separated from the void part, then the good 
part stands. 

The democratic principle of government is deposited 
in the House of Representatives. In public service the 
less the profit the greater the honor. Democracy must 
harmonize sects, factions and interests, and prevent the 
alternate oppression of rich and poor, debtors and 
creditors, the landed, manufacturing and commercial 
interests. 

The purse of the nation and its sword ought never to 
get into the same hands. When once begun, the ten¬ 
dency of abuses is to grow and multiply. The senti¬ 
ments of the particular circle in which one moves is 
commonly mistaken for the general voice of the whole 
people. A government must be suited to the habits and 
genius of the people it is to govern, and must grow out 
of them. An increase of population will, of necessit}^, 
increase the proportion of those who will labor under 
all the hardships of life and secretly sigh for a more 
equal distribution of its blessings. 

Every nation is to be regarded in two relations— 
first, to its own citizens ; and, secondly, to foreign 
nations. It is, therefore, not only liable to anarchy and 
tyranny from within, but has wars to avoid, and treaties 
to obtain from abroad. Bribery gives the rich man 
more votes than the poor man ; hence, the rights of the 
poor man cease to be secure. The means of defense 
against foreign danger have been always the danger of 
tyranny at home. 

Nature has given the smallest insect the power of 


THE FOTEE'S X-KAYS. 


125 


self-defense, and the same power is essential to man, 
the State and the nation. There are two sorts of bad 
government—first, that which does too little ; secondly, 
that which does too nmch ; that which fails through 
weakness, and that which destroys through oppression. 
Benjamin Franklin said ; When a table is to be made, 
and the edges of the planks do not fit, the artist takes a 
little from both, and makes a good joint ; so in govern¬ 
ment both sides must part from some of their demands 
in order that they may join in some accommodating 
proposition. People do not act from reason alone; 
therefore the rich take advantage of the passions of the 
poor, and make these the instruments for oppressing 
them. 

It seems there never has been, and never can be, a 
civilized society without an aristocracy; government 
must keep the aristocracy from doing mischief to the 
other people. Those who feel the burdens of taxation 
can best judge of its righteousness. It is essential that 
a certain degree of distrust ought to be centered upon 
all men having power of government, because the ten¬ 
dency of human nature is to abuse powder possessed. 

All power remains in the people that has not been 
given up in the Constitution derived from them. For¬ 
eign powers, with American possessions, favor policies 
attached to their interests. The government should be 
in the hands of statesmen as servants of the people, and 
not in the hands of masters of the people. The rulers 
should be men hating covetousness. The polar star of 
our political heavens is the preservation of the rights of 
the people, and that great and small officers shall return 
to the mass of the people from which they were first 
taken, in order that they may respect the rights and 
interests which are again to be personally valuable to 


126 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


them. The ignorant and dependent are dangerous 
guardians of liberty, and are not impregnable against 
the wiles of the rich and aristocratic. The virtue and 
public spirit of the common people should not be 
depressed. 

Every society has the power to declare on what 
conditions new members shall be admitted, and a nation 
has the same right. Confidence is the road to tyranny 
and misgovernment, and a shield for the misdeeds of 
officers. The ambition which aspires to offices of 
dignity and trust is not an ignoble or culpable one. 
The Constitution marks out the mode and form of the 
government, but men are the substance and do the 
governing. 

The Federal state and the States are different institu¬ 
tions for the good of the people of the States ; it is 
power taken out of the left hand, where it cannot be as 
well used, and placed in the right hand, where it can be 
better used. Good laws should be tried long enough to 
prove their merits. The government can only end in 
despotism when the people shall become so corrupted 
as to need despotic government, being incapable of any 
other. Much of the strength and efficacy of govern¬ 
ment depend upon the good opinion which the gov¬ 
erned have of their government. Private opinions 
must be sacrificed for public good. The wisdom and 
authority of the legislator are seldom victorious in a 
contest with the vigilant dexterity of private interests. 

Man has more to fear from the passions of his fellow- 
man than from the convulsions of the elements or the 
wrath of God. A nation of slaves is always prepared to 
applaud tlie clemency of a master who, in the abuse of 
power, does not proceed to the last extreme of injustice 
and oppression. Industry provides the subject for 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS, 


127 


accumulation, but parsimony accumulates capital, and 
just laws bar unequal concentration of capital. The 
laws can be no higher than the morals and disposition 
of the people to whom they are to apply. 

Equality before the law causes no war or strife. Men 
have capacity for virtue and proneness to evil, and the 
laws must be adopted to strengthen the former, and to 
check and restrict the latter. The true patriot is born 
for his country as well as for himself; the false patriot 
for himself, and his country by pretence. A country 
filled with patriots is a well-fortified country. 

The wise man legislates to root out .the evils of 
avarice, poverty, riches and oppression. The levy of 
war against the republic, by means of dangerous wealth, 
and special legislation in the interest of wealth, is no 
less treason than lev3dng war by means of arms. Both 
methods ought to be punishable. Citizens ought to 
contribute to the support of the government according 
to their respective abilities. Obedience or disobedience 
to this principle makes equality or inequality of tax¬ 
ation. The best government is of the people, by the 
people and for the people ; and the will of the people, 
legally expressed, is the law of the land. 


X. ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF MONTES¬ 
QUIEU’S SPIRIT OF LAWS. 


P OSITIVE laws ought to be consequent of the laws 
of nature ; this is the spirit of law. 

There are only two kinds of governments—those 
founded on the general rights of man., and those founded 
on particular rights. 


128 


THE VOTER'S X-RAYS. 


I know only two kinds of governments—the good and 
the bad ; the good, which are yet to be formed ; and the 
bad, the grand secret of which is to draw by a variety of 
means the money of the governed into the pockets of 
the rulers.”— Helvethis^ Letter to Montesquieu. 

There are two classes of governments: i. National, 
in which social rights are common to all. 2. Special, 
establishing or recognizing particular or unequal rights. 
They may be said to be public and private. The ruling 
motive of one is publicity, and of the other mystery and 
secrecy. 

“Magistrates, as magistrates, have only duties to per¬ 
form ; citizens alone have rights.”— Parliament of Paris ^ 
October^ lySS. 

No one has the right to oppose the general will of a 
nation when manifested in the established form. 

Every existing body has the right to self-preserva¬ 
tion, and hence a nation has the same. 

The cause of conservation in a commercial association 
is interest and the zeal of its members. 

The moving principles of each government should be 
analogous to the nature of the government established. 

Virtue is the principle of a republican government, 
honor that of a monarchy, and fear that of a despotism. 

Simple democracy is the true state of nature—it does 
not act by stratagems nor expedients. 

The principle of preservation in the form of govern¬ 
ment is love of country and equality of rights, and, if 
you will, the love of peace and justice. 

Individuals are to acquire authority by the exercise of 
their individual faculties, but never by the invasion of 
the rights of other individuals, or by an improper appro¬ 
priation of the public wealth. 

Government is like everything else ; to preserve it, 
you must love it. 


THE FOTEE’S X-RAYS. 


129 


There are three kinds of education in a country—that 
of parents, that of teachers, and that of the world. 
Those governments that are founded on reason can 
alone desire that education should be exempt from 
prejudice, profound and general. All education 
should be in harmony with the principles of the 
government. 

A profound veneration for established forms, and 
dislike for spirit of innovation and inquiry. 

The pure democratic government can in no way fear 
truth ; but they can fear prejudice and error. All that 
is good and true is in its favor. 

The worst inequality in a democracy is that of talents 
and information. 

The laws given by the legislature should be analo¬ 
gous to the principles of the government. 

That the spirit of industry, order and economy should 
prevail in the nation. That the people should not be 
incommoded with sumptuary laws which tend to excite 
discontent and lead to outrage upon property and 
liberty. That pomp and extravagance be not encour¬ 
aged as a means of obtaining public favor. That rapid 
fortunes may not be suffered to be amassed by the 
administration of the public treasury. That domestic 
virtue be found in every family, and then the public 
will maintain a corresponding character. Information 
should be promulgated constantly, and error and igno¬ 
rance exposed and dissipated. That vice should never 
be represented but in a light to be abhorred. 

None should be placed under restraint in communi¬ 
cation of his ideas. 

That no office should have long duration, or great 
emolument attached to it. 

That, as social relations become more numerous and 


130 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


delicate, laws governing them necessaril}' become more 
complicated. 

That a representative government cannot subsist 
without equality and union of the citizens. 

That the institution of juries is proper in a govern¬ 
ment in proportion as its principles are compatible with 
liberty, the love of justice and a general concern in 
public affairs. 

That offenses are to be prosecuted by the public, and 
not by an individual. That provision for punishment 
of crimes as will prevent their repetition should 
be the true object of corrective justice. 

That no one be permitted to employ the public arm 
to subserve individual passion. 

That, in proportion as the government is animated 
by a spirit of liberty, the more mild will the punish¬ 
ment be. That punishments are not designated to 
repair evil, for that is impossible, but for the preven¬ 
tion of evil. That the power of pardon shall not 
become the privilege of certain persons or classes. 

That the effect of luxury is the employment of indus¬ 
try in a useless and hurtful manner. That luxury rela¬ 
tive to economy is always an evil, a continual cause of 
misery and weakness. 

That the good of human society consists in the proper 
application of labor, the evil in its loss. 

That a state should be possessed of sufficient power, 
not too weak or too strong. That the frontiers be 
susceptible of an easy defense. That from confeder¬ 
ation there results less strength than intimate union. 

That the spirit of a monarchy is war and aggrandize¬ 
ment ; the spirit of republicanism is peace and moder¬ 
ation. That the right of war flows from the right of 
defense ; that of conquest from war. 


'the VOTER'S x-rays. 


131 

Individuals have power to make use of their individual 
strength in self-defense. 

That representative government is founded on invari¬ 
able equity and moral justice. 

That a republic desirous of remaining free should 
have no subjects. That too much power is not to be 
given to a single man. That the constitution of a soci¬ 
ety is a collection of rules determining the nature, 
extent and limit of the authorities ruling it. That 
liberty is the power to do that which the mind wills, 
the power of executing the will. 

That is the best government in which the greatest 
number of the people are the happiest. That social 
action is comprised in willing, executing and judging. 
That there is by right one power in society, and that is 
the will of the nation, or society, from which all 
authority flows. That no more power should be placed 
in the hands of the individual than can be taken from 
him without violence and changing of everything with 
him. That perfect power or liberty is perfect happi¬ 
ness. That we should not undertake to form a new 
Constitution until we shall have united all the powers 
of society in such as are favorable to it. That the 
transactions of society should suffer no interruption. 
That society should not permit itself to be ruled by 
fanatics and hypocrites. That the laws should not 
defend small possessions without defending great ones. 
That those individuals only should be excluded from 
elections who, on account of age, have not reached 
years of discretion, and those who have forfeited their 
right of suffrage. That the interest of an individual of 
society is that everything should be well conducted. 
That it is essential to a. monarchy that the princi¬ 
ple of national sovereignty be destroyed. That all 


132 


THE VOTEHS X-RAYS. 


things must be done conformable to laws and their 
spirit. 

That liberty of the press and of the individual are 
two things necessary to the happiness of society. That- 
every person should be secure against oppression in 
person and goods. That errors purely religious should 
be corrected by purely religious means. That the 
principle of government, founded on the ^ghts of man, 
is reason. That laws should be conformable to the 
laws of human nature. That the government should 
never suffer any attempts whatever upon the security of 
the citizens, nor on the right of declaring their senti¬ 
ments. That the less power religious ideas possess in 
the political concerns of a society or country, the more 
virtuous, happy, free and peaceable the people will be. 
We cannot force ourselves to think as other persons, 
nor can we force ourselves to hold the same opinion 
on any subject. 

A good law should be good for all men. When the 
laws of a country approach near to reason and justice, 
and the abuses are so trifling that no sensible advantage 
could be expected from a change, then a repugnance to 
change is reasonable. When it is supposed that there 
is no certain principle by which we might direct our¬ 
selves in security to the establishment of new laws, then 
a repugnance to change is reasonable. It is not unjust 
that individuals should make some sacrifice of a part of 
their liberty to secure the remainder. In establishing a 
law, if reason furnishes a principle, we should follow it ; 
if not, the course most congenial with public utility 
should be pursued. In the first, we conform to positive 
justice ; in the second, to relative justice. 


[the end.] 


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